Unlike many facilities, stadiums like Fenway Park swing from nearly dark to extreme occupancy. What does it take to prepare for game day to ensure all systems and venues are operational?
The proper planning and having the people with a passion for what they do and understand how things operate in the facility are the two most critical.
We do have redundant systems. But the most important thing is to have a concerted effort on behalf of the many people that work here at Fenway. The people and departments who are all dedicated and professionals at what they do. They're very knowledgeable about the systems that we have, they know how to operate them to their fullest with much efficiency. That's critical. Without that and without proper planning — whether it's a maintenance plan, an event management plan or an emergency management plan and getting the groups together to talk about the planning stages — then you could all have all the redundancy that you want in the building but without the people that really know how to put the pieces together, it becomes quite chaotic.
In addition, the park undergoes several systems checks, kicking off in late March during the pre-season. Our biggest system's check would be the pre-season. We'll go through the park, do integrated testing of all our equipment. We'll go through inspections with the city to make sure all our equipment is operating as it should and is up to code. It's a pretty intense operation.
Answers provided by Jon Lister, director of facilities management, Boston Red Sox. Lister has been with the Red Sox since November 2012. He was previously assistant director of facilities at Harvard University Athletics.
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