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After more than 30 years with the operations department at the Alamodome, I’ve lost count of the number of events I’ve worked on over those decades. We like to boast that we’re the most diverse entertainment facility in the country, and I can attest that the Dome has been home to an incredible array of competitions, performances and ceremonies since it opened in 1993.
I recall when former Mayor Henry Cisneros spearheaded the construction of the Dome, he said he envisioned it as being “a community gathering place,” and it has been that and so much more. I’m a San Antonio native, and the Alamodome profile has been a part of our downtown skyline for as long as I can remember.
I’ve been on site for most every event that has occurred there. Over the past five years, my role has been as a department facility coordinator, serving as a manager on our 17-person team that sets up, operates and takes down whatever is needed to give guests the best possible experience on site. I started as a part-time employee, on the cleaning crew, before moving on to crew Leader and building maintenance officer roles over the years.
In that time, I have learned virtually every part of our operation, from equipment to seating arrangements. I was a teenager when I began and learned how to drive a forklift at the Dome even before I had my driver’s license. Today, I know every square foot of the facility and have almost as many memories.
Spurs games. Major League Baseball. Selena at the Tejano Music Awards. Valero Alamo Bowls. International soccer. Monster truck shows. Disney on Ice. So many amazing concerts. I’ve been blessed to not only be on site to witness great shows, but to be part of the crew that makes them possible.
A favorite event for me was the George Strait concert in 2013 that drew nearly 71,000 people. It was amazing to see so many people in the Alamodome, all delighted and singing along with him. Of course, the most challenging may well have come last year when P!nk and Guns ‘N Roses performed on back-to-back nights, forcing a quick turnaround.
Along the way, the Alamodome ops crew has become like a second family. My boss still laughs at me because when I was nine months pregnant with my son, many years ago, we were getting ready for a circus event and had to make sure the concourse was built for our arena setup. There I was, showing our full-time and temp staff how to get that done before I could go have my baby. When I had my daughter, I scheduled to have her on a specific day. On that day, I worked in the morning and left around noon to go have my baby girl!
Because of the Alamodome’s remarkable ability to host numerous types of events in various configurations, from stadium to arena setups, the number of days it is used is significant and, in many cases, almost double what other major facilities worldwide are utilizing. Consider that each event includes move-in and move-out days, sandwiched around the conversion of the facility to whatever configuration is needed.
It’s an amazing process, from start to finish, requiring dedicated planning and execution — all unfolding under strict deadlines. Last year, for instance, our team worked 124 event days, a near record for the Alamodome. Those are the instances, of course, that most of you experience: a competition, graduation, meeting or entertainment of some kind.
In total, when you add up what we call the “use days,” or when the Alamodome is being configured or utilized, it’s more than 300 days a year. We don’t have much downtime.
As an example, we have had to convert the Dome from a football game one night to a concert not long afterward. We pick up all the artificial turf, rolling it up and tying it in sections and putting it into storage. We take down and store the goalposts. Then we do all the chairs on the floor, pull the bleachers out, prepare the backstage and meeting rooms, put up metal detectors outside, lay out bike racks as barricades and erect the tents and tables for merchandise.
It’s a long process, requiring 12-hour shifts or more. The same people who do the set-up are the same people who work the event and break it down afterward. I remember for one event not too long ago, at the end of the day I had walked 31,000 steps.
But the goal never changes: It’s all about making the client happy and excited about coming back. And we’ve made a lot of people happy.
We’re proud of what we do, and I have a great group I work with. Our motto with the Convention & Sports Facilities Department is “One Team,” and it’s fitting. I experienced it personally in 2018 when my team, my second family, rallied around me as I battled –and defeated – breast cancer over 10 hard months.
It’s little wonder their support worked wonders for me. After all, the Alamodome team knows a little something about taking on a challenge.