NFPA Journal - July/August 2012 - (Page 58)

100 YEARS OF FENWAY area that was located beneath the centerfield bleachers and right-field grandstand. Walls were removed between Fenway Park and two abutting buildings, and the concourse, which had been 35 feet (11 meters) wide, was expanded to 65 feet (20 meters) by tearing out old storage rooms and restrooms. The club also installed restrooms in a neighboring building that had been annexed to the stadium. By dramatically expanding pedestrian areas under the outfield seats, the IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT, of all the Big Concourse permitchanges that have taken place at ted movement through access and egress routes Fenway over the past decade, none “without undue hinhave been more important than drance” by fans, crowd those that bring the ballpark into management, security, tighter compliance with documents and emergency medical like NFPA 72 and NFPA 101. personnel, complying with Life Safety Code proments, which it addressed in two imporvisions 13.2.5.4.2 and 13.2.5.4.3. tant respects. First, pushing Fenway’s In August 2003, NFPA issued Tenmain entrance away from its cramped tative Interim Amendments (TIAs) interior to both ends of an entire street to bolster its requirements for fire removed the human bottleneck created sprinklers, crowd management, and by turnstiles: “13.2.2.2.9 No turnstiles or main entrance/exit capacity in nightother devices that restrict the moveclubs and similar small venues. This ment of persons shall be installed in any was largely in response to a February assembly occupancy in such a manner 20, 2003 fire that killed 100 people at as to interfere with required means of The Station nightclub, located about egress facilities.” Additionally, the new an hour south of Fenway in West concourse brought Fenway closer to Warwick, Rhode Island. Although meeting the Life Safety Code’s capacity of the changes were directed specifimeans of egress requirements, especally at nightclub-type venues, the cially regarding main entrance width: TIAs for NFPA 101 and NFPA 5000®, “13.2.3.6.1 The main entrance/exit shall Building Construction & Safety Code®, be of a width that accommodates oneunderscored the need for all building half of the total occupant load and shall owners to ensure that patrons could be at the level of exit discharge or shall safely exit a venue, even if as many connect to a stairway or ramp leadas two-thirds of them try to leave the ing to a street.” In this sense, balancing same way they entered. the requirements for new and existing In compliance with Life Safety Code construction lets designers try to meet Chapter 13 regarding existing assemthe requirements for new construction, bly occupancies, as well as the spirit of with the understanding that meeting the 2003 TIAs, the Red Sox continued the rules for existing construction still to improve access, ingress, and egress offers, in most cases, a significant life at Fenway. In 2006, access near Gate D safety improvement. was improved when the team added a In 2003, a new area dubbed the Big new staircase over the players’ parking Concourse was introduced, another lot. The next season, a staircase was 25,000-square-foot (2,323-square-meter) added from the concourse near Gate long lines of fans waiting in cramped spaces to show their tickets. From the perspective of fan experience, the street scene on Yawkey Way is still as colorful as ever, if a bit less crowded, but it is now much easier to enter and exit from that side of the ballpark. From a life safety perspective, the Yawkey Way Concourse was the first major step towards compliance with the Life Safety Code’s means of egress require- TEN YEARS OF FENWAY TLC 2010 + The concrete in the lower 1934 left field seating bowl is repaired and waterproofed. + Additional space is created by replacing the concession stand behind home plate at the top of the Grandstand with a new concession area. + Improvements are made to the lower third base concourse, including a new stairway for improved Gate A ingress and egress. 2011 + The final year of the 10-year improvement plan features the addition of three new high-definition video display systems that replace older existing systems. + A new Gate D ticket booth is added, providing fans with will-call window access at all five gates of the ballpark. + Improvements are made to the concourse between Gates C and D. [Source: boston.redsox.mlb.com] A to the top of the grandstand behind third base, as well as a new elevator in left field that served all levels of the ballpark. In 2010, staircases were added behind home plate and from the Gate A concourse to the Lower Third Base concourse. Even seat replacement was done with an eye towards improving ingress and egress. In 2010, the original wooden seats in the left-field grandstand were refurbished and fitted with self-rising mechanisms, making it easier for fans to enter and exit each row. Information explosion As the 10-year renovation plan proceeded, it became increasingly important to create a fully integrated fire alarm system. Not only had the Red Sox created a kind of “greater Fenway Park” by moving operations into adjacent buildings, but the walls separating Fenway from some of its neighbors had been removed or altered to create more space, as with the Big Concourse project. The Red Sox needed a single system for fire safety and crowd management to protect 58 NFPA JOURNAL JULY/AUGUST 2012 http://boston.redsox.mlb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2012

NFPA Journal - July/august 2012
Contents
First Word
Mail Call
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Fenway at 100
Crowning Achievement
Safety at Center Stage
Firefighter Fatalities in the United States, 2011
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - July/August 2012