by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
While in Houston earlier this month, representatives from the Super Bowl Host Committee observed a variety of game day-related events, from volunteer coordination to lodging and accommodations. Now the group says they might be able to borrow many of those themes and apply them to local efforts.
According to Reid Sigmon, Host Committee vice president of operations, one Houston event in particular may have provided some valuable inspiration.
Sigmon said Houston’s Main Event, a temporary downtown entertainment hub encompassing 16 blocks, greatly mirrors plans for the Times-Union SuperFest.
“Unlike New Orleans where they already have Bourbon Street or in San Diego where they created a smaller entertainment area in empty blocks,” said Sigmon, “Houston really expanded that idea and created something temporary on a much larger scale, something that appealed to tourists as well as to the local community. They had a great turnout.”
Host Committee director of communications Heather Surface agreed, saying the experience was “the main party place for Super Bowl Visitors as well as Houstonians.”
“Houston’s Main Event provided us with an opportunity to experience a temporary entertainment concept first-hand,” she said. “And we really have to give the organizers a good deal of credit because they managed to create an atmosphere that showed off the area, downtown especially.
“Although our SuperFest will ultimately be different from Houston’s Main Event, there were aspects we will obviously try to emulate.”
Despite the heavy turnout and success of the Main Event, Sigmon said he was most impressed by the level of cohesion behind the scenes.
“Something I noticed right away was that the City and all of the various agencies, including the fire department and the sheriff’s office, really came together to make it success,” he said. “As I understand it, while in Houston, many of our local agencies made contact with their counterparts and I’m confident they’ll continue to communicate and ask questions.”
Sigmon and Surface said features including live musical acts — both local and national — and street performers and sidewalk cafes will all be prominent in the days leading up to the game.
“Granted, what we have designed covers a much larger area,” he said. “We’ll be on both sides of the river and cover over three miles. On the Northbank, alone, we’ll have events running from the [T-U Center] all the way down to The Shipyards development, so we have a lot of unique aspects to address.”
“It’s a constantly evolving process, but we’ll start announcing more specific details in the months leading up to the Super Bowl,” said Sigmon. “Definitely by late fall or early winter.”