UMKC Case Study

A LONG OVERDUE UPGRADE

Hussey Seating automated reconfiguration, bringing events – and revenue – back to campus

The Swinney Recreation Center at The University of Missouri, Kansas City, is a large Field House that serves both students and UMKC community members. The Center provides a broad range of personal growth and development opportunities.

Faster and easier changeover translates into greater event capacity, revenue generation, and profit potential. An outdated wooden bleacher system served as a bottleneck, limiting booking potential, straining resources, and calling for hours of labor both before and after each event.

But Hussey Seating devised a solution to automate this process, helping the university bring sporting and student events – and the associated revenue – back to campus.

Obstacles & Opportunities
Before any scheduled event could occur, four to eight staff members needed to place 10 sections of portable bleachers onto decks and manually move that equipment into its proper place. This end-to-end process took several hours to complete.

When the men’s basketball team, which had been leasing a downtown arena for $150,000 annually, decided to move its games back to campus, concerns grew. More events would mean insurmountable demands on staff time and even greater equipment wear and tear.

Solutions
When the cost of repair proved to be much higher than they expected, the University decided to explore a ground-up bleacher overhaul. The MAXAM traveling bleacher seemed the perfect solution, delivering the flexibility and efficiency they needed to begin fully utilizing this space.

In sharp contrast to the labor-intensive system the Center previously had in place, one person could set-up the new MAXAM traveling bleacher in a half hour with just the push of a button. “It really is just a push of a button,” said Christina Essner, Manager of Recreational Facilities and Building Operations. “I have a remote control that I plug into the side of the bleachers. I push a forward button, and I can pull it out.” This remote effortlessly steers and drives an entire back of seating across multiple practice courts and opens it to the desired position.

The Payoff
Since implementing the MAXAM traveling bleacher system, the Center has drastically reduced its overhead cost and is able to host more events on campus – attracting revenue not only from students but also community members.