BOULDER, Colo. — Preparations are underway at CU Boulder as the university gets ready to host the third Republican debate on Wednesday night at the Coors Events Center.
The campus that bleeds black and gold is now dripping with red, white and blue. The university will host the top 10 polling Republican presidential hopefuls as they square off on economic issues. The debate will be broadcast live on CNBC. The four trailing candidates will debate earlier in the day.
“This is a big planning process. It’s been going on for several months,” CU Boulder police spokesman Scott Pribble said.
The behind the scenes are set. Now campus is turning into a TV stage.
“Right now, you’ve got NBC and CNBC and some of their affiliates here working. We do have some of our IT people here working, setting up the spin room,” Pribble said.
With so much national attention coming to Boulder, there are several logistical changes to traffic and security.
The candidates will debate at the Coors Events Center on the southeast side of campus. There is also a student watch party, a protest zone and an immigration rally planned in other spots. Those areas will have added security as well as barricade fences.
Regent Drive, the main road that runs through campus, will be closed from noon Tuesday through noon Thursday. There will be no public parking available during that time. CU officials believe off-campus drivers will not be affected by debate traffic.
“The majority of the traffic should be done early afternoon because this is a 4 o’clock and a 6 o’clock debate here, which means that those people will be in place before the 5 o’clock rush hour will hit and then they’ll be moving back out after that rush hour,” Pribble said.
The event is closed to the public. Those wishing to be on campus during the debate will be allowed in a free speech zone located in an open grass space across the street from the Coors Events Center.
“We recommend that you stay away from campus because there are so many things going on that unless you just absolutely have business here on campus, we recommend you stay away,” Pribble said.
Ahead of the debate, candidate Rand Paul will hold a “Stand with Rand” rally in Denver on Tuesday. He will talk police and take pictures.
The event will be at Catjetans Church on the Auraria campus. It begins at 4 p.m. and is free to the public.
Also on Tuesday, Jeb Bush Jr. will be at the Millennium Harvest Hotel in Boulder (1345 28th St.) for a meeting to campaign for his father. The event runs from 3:15 p.m. to 4 p.m.