Hundreds of tractor-trailers ferrying a massive upscale-electronics show into downtown Denver the week after the Democratic National Convention could be targeted for additional security screening.
While the DNC is being held at the Pepsi Center and the electronics show at the Colorado Convention Center, security officials say the concern is if one of the candidates or an ex-president visits the convention center, where state political caucuses are scheduled to meet.
At the same time, hundreds of workers will be setting up the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association trade show a floor above.
“Nothing is in place yet, and everything’s on the table,” convention-center general manager John Adams said of ongoing discussions with law enforcement and security surrounding the DNC.
The CEDIA convention wasn’t news to the Democrats, who chose Denver for their party gathering in January 2007. The trade show was booked by the Colorado Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2001.
This year is the last in a three-year run for CEDIA at the convention center. At $60 million and 30,000 attendees, it’s the second-largest convention of the year, behind the DNC.
The convention of Democrats begins Aug. 26 and is expected to draw at least 40,000 people.
With the DNC set to leave the Pepsi Center on Aug. 28 and the CEDIA show starting Sept. 3, there wouldn’t have been any overlap since most trade shows typically take three or four days to set up, Adams said.
But the CEDIA show requires at least nine days to prepare, and trucks hauling exhibitor cargo will start arriving at the same time as the Democrats.
The trailers will be kept in a “marshaling yard” before they are dispatched to loading docks inside the convention center, Adams said.
He wouldn’t divulge the yard location but said it was not within the DNC’s critical security zone, an area monitored by the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement.
David Migoya: 303-954-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com
