They'll have just over a month to build sky boxes, construct the elevated seating, set up electrical capacity for the GOP and the press, stack the press stands, carpet the place, nail together the podium and get sound and lighting in place. A multitudinous flow chart of boxes brimming with detail, the critical path is as complicated as Pat Buchanan is opinionated. As of July 8, the RNC will have 140 staffers in town. They'll be joined in the facility by contractors hired by the RNC for electrical and construction work. It's likely that between 500 and 1,000 workers from contracted and subcontracted firms will put in time during the five weeks before the big show.
Plans also call for big-screen televisions to be installed in the center's outdoor sail area.
There will be a closed-circuit system for up to 10,000 people to watch the proceedings in the main hall. More huge TV screens will also go up on the Embarcadero, in an area that can accommodate an additional 10,000 to 15,000 people. Fine and dandy, you say. SEAT Planners is devising a city bus system in miniature. Different scenarios are being mulled, involving anywhere from 90 to 150 to 450 transit buses and motor coaches.