On Saturday night, St. Louis will be the place to be.
Not only will Don King roll into the Savvis Center with one of the largest and most-publicized local sporting events in recent history, but Soulard and Laclede’s Landing will serve as ground zero for the nations’s second-largest Mardi Gras celebration.
While the city is set to party, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is bracing itself for a busy, potentially explosive night.
“We will have more than our usual force on hand,” said Police Chief Joseph Mokwa, who estimated that 800 of the city’s 1,400 police officers will be patrolling Downtown and Soulard on Saturday night.
To increase the size of the force, Chief Mokwa said he is not allowing officers to take days off, and some officers who work during the day will be required to work a double shift on Saturday.
The sold-out Spinks-Judah bout will bring more than 20,000 fight fans to Downtown’s second-largest in-door sports facility. It has the potential to become the largest-grossing event in Savvis Center history.
According to Dennis Petrullo, senior vice-president and general manager of Savvis Center, managing the event will be business as usual, with the addition of two special security precautions.
“Everyone is going to go through a metal detector. We own 24 metal detectors and use them for various types of events in the building where we feel it is necessary, and this is one of them,” Petrullo said.
“The St. Louis Police Department will be handling all of the traffic duties outside, and we hire off-duty policemen in uniforms that will be positioned around the ring and will be used to bring the fighters through the walkway.”
Although many A-list celebrities will attend the event n sightings of anyone from Shaquille O’Neal to Will Smith to Denzel Washington are expected n Petrullo said there will be no special entrance for their arrival.
“They will have to come through the front door with a ticket, like everyone else,” Petrullo said.
Bob Goodman, vice-president of boxing operations and public relations for Don King Productions, further elaborated on security measures that will be taken for celebrities with the stature of Mike Tyson, Jay-Z or Shaq.
“It’s natural for us to deal with celebrities, because we deal with it for every major show,” he said.
“We have to have those discussions with those that are coming and with the Savvis Center, so that we can arrange for their specific seat locations. We like to have them in an area where they won’t be bothered and where they can enjoy the event n that’s what they are here for. Most will also have their own security person.”
While the numbers for fight night might seem huge, estimates for Spinks-Judah pale in comparison to the astronomical crowd projections for Mardi Gras 2005.
Laura Derickson of Mardi Gras Inc. said others have estimated that as many as 500,000 people will attend Saturday’s festivities, but the organization does not try to give an official number because attendance is so huge and the events so fluid. She said the official estimate is simply “many, many people.”
With such large numbers come security issues. According to Richard Wilkes, director of public relations for the St. Louis Police Department, at last year’s Soulard Mardi Gras there were 267 arrests, of which 109 were for minors in possession of alcohol and 147 for indecent exposure.
Despite the increased security concerns that Saturday’s events will present, Chief Mokwa is confident that the department will be able to handle them effectively.
“I don’t anticipate any real problems,” he said. “Both events present great opportunities for the city of St. Louis.