Game days on The Plains have seen unprecedented temperatures this football season. The day of the Alabama State game, The Plains reached 90 degrees. The following week against LSU, the temperature rose to 94 with a heat index of 98.
“In the middle of the game, we had to open up another cooling station across the street at Petrie Hall,” said Glenn Loughridge, director of Tiger Dining. “I was gathering water bottles from on campus and bringing them to those folks. We were taking people out on golf carts and everything we could find to get these people help.”
Within the stadium, Tiger Dining and Auburn Athletics staged huge spots for water tanks for fans to drink as they pleased. Concessions had more points of sale than they’ve ever had during a game.
“And still, the heat was such that it was clear we could’ve had some dangerous situations,” Loughridge said. “We’re fortunate that we didn’t run out of water in the stadium, but there were places we couldn’t get to just because everyone was out and sitting down on the concourses because they were so hot.”
Tiger Dining and Auburn Athletics are working to do as much as possible to curb the effects of the heat starting this weekend by bringing 10,000 bottles of water into the student section.
“We’re fortunate in our Coca-Cola contract," Loughridge said. "Coca-Cola is obviously concerned with fan safety as well, so they provided that if the temperature is 92 degrees or above at game time, we have the ability to trigger a provision where they will give us 10,000 water bottles for the student section.”
The logistics remain complicated. Ten-thousand water bottles comprise seven and a half palettes. The methods of keeping the bottles cool are still in question, and the temperature needs to hit 92 degrees or higher at game time before any bottles will be distributed.
In the meantime, Auburn Athletics and Tiger Dining added two more free water tanks in the student section, increasing the number from one to three, and added another point of sale of just water in the student section. A bottled water will cost $2 at the concession, but fans can bring sealed water bottles into the games and fill them at the multiple stations around the stadium.
“We’re committed to making sure that we do everything we can as a team to make sure that fans and students have what they need, especially on the water side,” Loughridge said. “It was pretty unprecedented as having that type of really brutal heat, but obviously, when you have those situations, it’s an opportunity to take some notes and figure out what you could’ve done better. I think we’ve got a great plan going forward.”
SGA President Dane Block added that student and fan safety sit high on the agenda for all those working on campus, and the separate departments will continue to put in a joint effort to ensure the proactive responses needed to give fans and students what they need. However, Block said that the most credit should be given to Loughridge.
“Mr. Glenn, he has such a desire for the students and wants to ensure that they’re taken care of," Block said. "So, if there’s any credit to give, give him the credit. SGA’s here to just help push the method and provide the feedback with what all is going on."
For Saturday’s game, Loughridge said he’s warned Coca-Cola that if the temperature hits the threshold, they’ll need to provide the water. Currently, the temperature projects to be no higher than 85 degrees along with some rain, but if the temperature fails to hit 92 degrees, students may still bring sealed bottles and use the filling stations around the stadium.
“I feel like we’ll be in good shape to make sure everyone’s got water,” Loughridge said.
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