The Northern Kentucky Port Authority is considering new security measures at Covington’s OneNKY Center, including keeping the building’s front door locked throughout the day.
Although not finalized, the Port Authority Board of Directors voted to seek proposals from interested security contractors at Tuesday’s meeting, just in case.
Port staff will be meeting with the OneNKY Center’s tenant businesses next week to get their points of view on the prospect.
“We’re making plans to lock the front door of the OneNKY Center at all times,” said Port Authority Executive Director Christine Russell. “You don’t always have somebody sitting down at the desk every moment during the day, and we have had some cases where we feel like this would be helpful for the building.”
Russell explained the new security measures would focus mostly on front-end access, “for basically a security person to sit at that front desk to monitor the door, to let deliveries in, let visitors in.”
Whether the building will get other security measures besides locking the door at all times is unclear, although Russell said it probably would not entail large security teams throughout the building. The cost was likely to exceed $50,000, Russell said, which requires the authority to put out requests for proposals from contractors. The structure for paying for the security, whether entirely out of the authority’s pocket or in conjunction with the tenant businesses, will be a point of discussion next week.
Currently, community members can freely enter the building throughout the day. MeetNKY, the region’s tourism bureau, provides front desk staff, but Russell stated the organization had decided to discontinue those services. Russell said the discontinuation was not due to security concerns.
Whether or not closing off the main entrance reflected the OneNKY Center’s desire to be a community institution was a point of discussion at the meeting.
“I think discussing is there another option to hire a similar ambassador (or) concierge person versus security is something that should be discussed,” said OneNKY Alliance CEO Karen Finan said.
“Security professionals would tell you, at least what we’ve seen in Cincinnati in my building in particular, is that you have got to lock down the elevators,” said Port Authority Board Chair and Partner at Vorys law firm J.B. Lind. “I understand the perception of this being a public building and wanting it being open to the public. The problem is with the design; the elevators are right there.”
“We don’t want it to be cumbersome for people to come to the building,” Russell said.
A comparison was made to a courthouse, which is a public building but still has security protocols people have to go through before entering: “There are portions that you cannot get access to,” Lind said.
“I guess community access is more the image thing that we’re talking about here,” Finan said, comparing it to previous places she’s worked at where it was difficult for people to find where they were going.
The vote to enable the port authority to issue the request for proposals was unanimous, but concrete plans for the changes are contingent on the results of the authority’s meetings with the tenant businesses next week.
