Rob McAvoy
Cliburn 50th Anniversary Gala, Fort Worth Convention Center, 2012
The Fort Worth Convention Center and Will Rogers Memorial Center have received the STAR Facility accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, the cleaning industry’s outbreak prevention, response and recovery accreditation for facilities, the city said Wednesday.
“GBAC accreditation is the gold standard of prepared facilities,” Mike Crum, director of public events for the city, said in a release. “Meeting planners will find that we have gone the extra mile to assure their event attendees have as safe an experience as possible while in our buildings.”
Five other facilities in Texas have the STAR Facility accreditation, including three in Houston, the University of Texas at Arlington College Park Center, and Arlington’s ESports Stadium Arlington & Expo Center.
The STAR rating means the city has:
- Established and maintained a cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention program to minimize risks associated with infectious agents like COVID-19;
- The proper cleaning protocols, disinfection techniques, and work practices in place to combat biohazards and infectious disease; and,
- Cleaning professionals who are trained for outbreak and infectious disease preparation and response.
The Global Biorisk Advisory Council is a division of ISSA, the cleaning industry’s association.
“As the operations team has gone through the rigorous GBAC application process, we’ve been able to create and enhance our cleaning protocols,” Cynthia Serrano, acting general manager of the Convention Center, said in the release. “We’ve also developed new methodologies for our team to expand how we evaluate what is clean and safe.”
The city spent almost $3 million to prepare the two facilities to move forward with meetings after COVID-19, Andra Bennett, a city spokeswoman, said. Bennett said the money came from the federal CARES Act, which Congress passed and President Trump signed into law for COVID relief.
In Fort Worth, for example, technicians use an Adenosine Triphosphate meter, used widely by janitorial experts, to obtain readings on the cleanliness of the building, the city said. “By doing this in-house, they are able to target high traffic areas and increase frequency of disinfecting where and when needed.”
The city also installed bipolar Ionization systems in the Convention Center and Will Rogers. “This process involves releasing ionized particles that will attach to and deactivate harmful substances like bacteria, mold, allergens, and viruses at the molecular level,” the city said. “The result is cleaner and healthier air.”
The city reduced touch points in both facilities’ restrooms, installing auto flush toilets and urinals, automatic sink faucets and auto-dispensing equipment for soap, sanitizer and paper towels, the city said.
With business travel off substantially, the Convention Center has had few meetings. Most recently this month, it hosted the Cowboy Christmas for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, which was Globe Life Field in Arlington. The Will Rogers has been hosting events since July, most recently the National Cutting Horse Association World Finals.
“We always had a high standard, but now we are sanitizing for safety as well as cleaning for aesthetics,” Kevin Kemp, general manager of the Will Rogers, said in the release. As part of the requirements for accreditation, 18 city Public Events employees received a GBAC Trained-Technician certification.
“Individuals earning the certification are trained in planning, knowledge and processes needed to respond to a biohazard crisis in the workplace,” the city said. “They also mastered preventive, response and contamination control measures for infectious disease outbreak situations such as COVID-19.”