Chase Center Wins Recognition for Advanced Cleaning Practices
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors, is the first sports venue in Northern California to earn the GBAC STAR Facility accreditation.
The seal of approval from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) is considered the gold standard in the cleaning industry. The accreditation in the sports world is a new initiative.
"We thought it was very important to have a third party verify how good our policies and protocols are," said Chase Center general manager Kim Stone. "So guests understand and staff understand the level to which we're holding ourselves accountable coming out of this."
To date, just 27 facilities across the U.S. have earned the GBAC STAR accreditation. Chase Center joins two other sports venues -- Staples Center in Los Angeles and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Each venue must demonstrate compliance with 20 core program elements, including PPE and an emergency response plan.
Scheduled concerts at Chase Center have been postponed until 2021 and the NBA is currently targeting December for a return to arenas with fans.
During shelter-in-place, Chase Center has enhanced the building's air-filtration system. Its cleaning staff will also be expanded.
"We're going to focus on high touch surfaces, we're going to be cleaning more frequently, we're going to be using chemicals and standards and protocols," said Stone. "We're sending our staff to training to get the disinfecting and sanitizing training and we're going to have quality checks and quality control."
While Chase Center was using the latest cleaning equipment pre-pandemic, Stone says the coronavirus has permanently changed how the venue will clean and disinfect.
"That to me is the ultimate thing -- is that we can have 18,000 people safely in here cheering for the Warriors. They go home and they've had a great time and they're healthy," Stone said.
Chase Center said it is also learning new practices from the NBA bubble in Orlando happening now and it could apply them to the new season.