Stadiums as shelters part 2 | 07.01.2008 | 07:52:42 | Views: 8312 | ID: July 1 '08: In Japan, architect Shuhei Endo has been working on fusing disaster response and recovery capabilities into the design to stadiums, Architectural Record reported in the June 2008 edition. Endo's design incorporates curved lines and open spaces to maximize the space available for large response operations to move into an area also used by sports teams, AR reviewed. Local communities in the US such as Charleston, S.C. have been using stadiums to house displaced people after disasters. Similar uses have been put into place during Hurricane Katrina and during the Southern California wildfires in 2007. Many local communities have stadiums - however large or small they may be. In communities where there is a college or university that hosts sports teams at a stadium, local government and responder officials have the opportunity to coordinate with school officials to provide a security and disaster response solution and capability in the event of a disaster - be it man-made or natural. To put into place a baseline understanding surrounding the logistics and operations needed to effectively use the stadium as a disaster shelter, the University of Southern Mississippi has instituted the Center for Spectator Sports Security Management. The program, which leverages a $3.5 million grant from DHS is working to establish protocols for security and disaster management and coordination best practices between NCAA officials and the local government and first responder agencies. Furthermore, a report released after Hurricane Katrina by the International Association of Assembly Managers found that stadiums and other "mega-shelters" have a two-part process by which they can operate most successfully during and after a disaster. Officials can focus on ways information could be used to design best practices for emergency response and helping to understand "the activation process, shelter standards, contracting, liability exposure and how to plan for the next storm season." Secondly, officials can create guidelines for command and control systems, security, food services, healthcare, housing and partnership with vendors and other "mega-shelter" partners. "In the event of an earthquake or typhoon, supply trucks can drive directly into the 174,000-square-foot building, thanks to moveable glass panels at four locations around the perimeter" of the stadium, AR wrote. "But on normal days, athletes enter primarily through a domed foyer on the building's east side. Shaped like a giant tennis ball embedded in the earth and clad with eye-popping yellow tiles, the way in is impossible to miss. Articles of interest: Stadium as a shelter part 1. National Blueprint Tags: Transportation & Logistics, Public Health & Medical, Economic & Infrastructure.(Click below to download file) large-structure-management.pdf
Copyright ©2007 TheBreakingNews.com. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction in part or full without prior written permission.
|