BNI Newswire

In the name of safety and security, Auburn University has altered its rules for tailgating before Tiger football games.

The only new restriction, university spokesperson Janet McCoy said, is a "no RV" buffer zone at the core of campus. The core area is the region bordered by College Street, Magnolia Avenue, Donahue Drive and Samford Avenue. The new rules are partly tied to Sept. 11, since insurance companies now require strict controls on what vehicles can approach a venue that contains as many people as Jordan-Hare does on a gameday.

"An RV would park right next to a building and we had no idea what might be in it," McCoy said.

The RVs have been moved to a new lot only two blocks from Jordan-Hare Stadium. The shift, in fact, creates more space for RVs, McCoy said. The area RVs previously inhabited near the stadium held only 75 or so campers and trailers. The new lot, she said, will hold 175, meaning there will be additional space for more RVs, or extra space for fans to set up their tailgating parties.

"We’ve more than adequately compensated," McCoy said. "It’s still centrally located, but not in the core part of campus."

Another positive in the RV move is that a better-planned area for recreational vehicles will ensure that emergency vehicles can maneuver through the lot if needed.

"In the densely packed areas around the stadium, if someone had had a heart attack, an ambulance could not physically get there to help them," McCoy said.

In the past, some fans set up their tailgating spaces as early as the Wednesday before a game. But, according to university spokesperson Janet McCoy, tailgaters will now be restricted from staking or roping off areas until 4 p.m. Friday.

The primary reason for this, she said, was that many tailgaters began partying during the week, when the students of Auburn were trying to focus on schoolwork.

"Four o’clock Friday is the time where we switch from an academic setting to a gameday setting," she said.

McCoy said student safety is also a concern there, since the stakes and ropes are tripping hazards for pedestrians.

Auburn officials also decided to close the majority of academic and administrative buildings on gamedays. Some buildings, such as Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, Foy Student Union and Draughon Library will be open for bathroom use, though.

McCoy said fans in the academic buildings had become a problem, as rowdy fans left messes in academic classrooms and, in some instances, destroyed student projects and compromised sensitive research projects.

For more information on the tailgating rules changes, check Auburn’s Web site at www.auburn.edu/gameday.