FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF)- After serving as a temporary overflow homeless shelter for nearly 1,600 people during the last three months, The Fort Worth Convention Center is being heavily sanitized before resuming normal operations, planned for the end of July.
“We have plenty of time to get ready,” said Fort Worth’s Public Events Director Michael Crum.
Fort Worth-based Ventrex Environmental Services, which performed daily cleanings of the areas used for the shelter, is now decontaminating those spaces using the highest level of cleaning and sanitation techniques available.
Crum said then, his team will come behind to deep clean the entire building. Crum estimated the process to take about 3 weeks before it’s ready to open to the public.
Crum said the city recently hired Legends Hospitality, a business venture of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Yankee Global Enterprises, owner of the New York Yankees baseball club, for help preparing the downtown Convention Center to resume regular operations, as well as developing an ongoing cleaning and sanitation program needed in the wake of COVID-19.
“Going the extra mile in terms of making sure that the building is as clean as it possibly can be is the piece of assurance our clients need in building their confidence in conducting their events in Fort Worth,” said Crum.
Public Events is in the process of adopting an extensive set of health and safety guidelines, and will conduct employee training. The new protocols are a sweeping change in the daily operations at the facility for arena guests, convention goers and meeting planners. Changes focus on maintaining proper distancing in meeting rooms, in the arena and in ticket and concession lines.
“We are operating in an environment now where we have to change the way we clean and disinfect the venue to provide an additional layer of protection against the virus, that will be an ongoing commitment,” he said.
The Convention Center’s first event since the facility was shuttered in March is on July 15, followed by a convention later in the month.
