Sioux Falls, SD (KELO AM) - Walk-through metal detectors may soon be coming to the Denny Sanford Premier Center, as concert promoters and sports leagues nationwide continue to ramp up security in light of recent terrorist attacks worldwide.
"It's not a requirement to have those in place, but the requests are coming in from various tours and events. So we want to stay on the front end of the curve," said Assistant GM Chris Semrau, adding that the discussion about the detectors is still in the early stages.
There's no hard timeline on when the detectors would be in place, but Semrau says if they are brought in you could expect to see them by late Summer. The city would use money from the Premier Center's project budget to purchase the metal detectors, a price tag that could run up to $200 thousand.
Semrau says his staff currently uses hand-wand detectors for big ticket events, such as this weekend's Jason Aldean concert. He says it's still too early to tell if they will expand those security measures to smaller events such as Stampede or Storm games, saying "We're having an ongoing discussion about safety and security, like many other venues are across the country. Efforts will continue to be made to keep it a safe event, while providing a great guest experience."
He added that NBA, NFL, and NHL teams all utilize some form of metal detection screening for guests. "This isn't something that's maverick or unique for our market, it's more conforming to the standard that professional teams have in place."