GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – There were a lot of changes at 1265 Lombardi Avenue this offseason, and they went beyond the players and coaches on the field.
Nearly two years after a former food service employee recklessly drove his vehicle into Lambeau Field’s loading dock, $5.5 million in upgrades were put in place to help make sure nothing similar happens in the future.
“We had been talking about it for quite some time and that incident really just magnified the need to move forward,” said Doug Collins, Director of Security and Risk Management for the Packers.
The security upgrades weren’t done specifically because of the December 2017 incident.
Collins tells FOX 11 the renovations, including three new buildings, was a long time coming.
“It had been since the renovation in ’01 and I don’t think at that time security was thought of in the light it is today. So it was kind of an afterthought in the building, now it is put in its rightful place.”
Collins says the biggest upgrades are to technology and space.
The new two-story building at the loading dock gatehouses offices, lockers, and “the eyes” of Lambeau Field, a part of the building where our cameras were not allowed.
A major goal of the upgrades was to make things safer for people coming in and out of the loading dock area.
Previously, Collins says everyone came through one gate. Now, there are three entries: for large vehicles, pedestrians, and smaller vehicles like golf carts.
“It avoids some of the liability concerns we had in the past with vehicles and the carts and pedestrians all mixing together.”
FOX 11 asked Collins what would happen if someone attempted something similar to the December 2017 incident with the new upgrades.
“It wouldn’t work. It literally is a two-step system in order to gain vehicle access versus the one-step system that it was in the past. Much like a sally port in jail, you have to be allowed into the space, they vet you before they allow you further into the stadium.”
Chay Vang is the former food service employee who drove his vehicle into Lambeau Field. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and five years extended supervision for the incident.
The security upgrades were finished just in time for the beginning of this year’s training camp.
