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22 May 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – The Stormont Vail Event Center is coming off a busy weekend, hosting multiple events and thousands of people. So, what does it take to change a football field into a graduation ceremony in less than 12 hours?
The event center hosted high school graduations for Seaman, Shawnee Heights and Washburn Rural. Less than 12 hours before the first ceremony, the Topeka Tropics notched its first victory of the season. The Stormont Vail Event Center General Manager, Kellen Seitz, said it takes a lot of manpower and a lot of planning to execute the plan properly.
“It’s about a full 12-hour turnaround, with heavily staffed operations and union operations crew to entirely break down the football playing surface, clean the facility, turn it around, set up for graduation with stages and chairs,” said Seitz.
The event center also hosted all of the USD 501 graduations the weekend prior, so Seitz estimates more than 20,000 people have made their way in and out of “The Vail” over the last two weeks alone.