Altoona school officials enforcing stricter guidelines at Mansion Park

ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Altoona Area School District is taking precautions at Mansion Park after an incident at the Mountain Lions’ last home football game.

During Altoona’s crosstown rivalry game against Hollidaysburg, a student was caught bringing in a taser into Mansion Park. An investigation is currently ongoing, but the event prompted school officials to review their guidelines and enforce stricter rules and regulations for the spectators.

“We have always, like any good organization, takes a look at the policies and regulations, that we already had in effect,” Bill Pfeffer, the director of safety and security at Altoona Area School District said. “We wanted to maybe critique them a little bit and have more substantial rules and regulations in place just in case we would ever have a serious situation.”

The guidelines state that all students are required to present a valid student ID before entry. Security asks high school students to either sit in the home student section or with their parents or guardians.

Other guidelines include fans to sit in the bleachers and not congregate along the fence and in the main concourse areas. No backpacks are allowed into the stadium, and bags permitted are subject to search and seizure.

The idea to put these guidelines into place is to help prevent any danger from arising in the property. Last Friday, gunshots rang out near a Pittsburgh high school football game between Woodland Hills and Penn Hills, prompting the evacuation of the stadium and the game being called in the fourth quarter.

“I know that people do not like change, and change sometimes can cause issues for people,” Pfeffer said. “However, we are doing the best we absolutely can to provide the best atmosphere that we can for anybody that wants to enter the stadium on any given night.”

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Protocols for visiting fans from other schools will have a similar look, but with different procedures. “Not all schools have IDs,” Pfeffer said. “So we would factor that and look, but if they are younger, they still would have to be accompanied by an adult to enter the stadium.”

As Altoona preps for their next home football game this Friday against Cumberland Valley, security looks to keep fans safe and let them enjoy the Friday night lights of Central Pennsylvania.

“This is a community stadium,” Pfeffer said. “This is a community aspect, and we want them to feel safe when they attend our events.”

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