The Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders basketball game had just ended. Fans funneled out of the American Bank Center to go home for the evening.
However, while fans left the building, 20-25 workers entered the building. They are the changeover crew.
“We’re called changeover for a reason,” American Bank Center Operations Manager Alan Herrera said. “We change over from one event to the next so on a bigger scale of it we just set events and it can’t really happen unless we do set up.”
While fans sleep, Herrera and his crew are busy at work changing the ABC from a basketball arena to hockey rink. It starts with the removal of the basketball court and chairs and ends with the installation of the boards and glass to complete the rink.
The project takes about five to six hours on a good day. but Herrera says it depends on the pace of work.
“Everyone has to do their job and if they can do that it makes it easier,” he said.
Once the rink is put together, a two-man team comes into the American Bank Center around 6 a.m. to clean the ice and prep it for the game that day.
Herrera says the length of time is dependent on the workers, but says the event also dictates how many hours are spent.
For example, the longest amount of time the team spent changing the venue from one event to the next was last week’s KISS concert. It took 28 hours.
