If there is an easy and hassle-free way to move more than 200,000 people in and out of downtown Cincinnati, organizers of the four-day Billy Graham Mission at Paul Brown Stadium seem determined to find it.

Representatives from several agencies gather Thursday to announce downtown transportation and other plans for the Graham mission. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        “The way this has been organized, I'm confident that people will be able to come down, be comfortable and enjoy the program,” Anthony Munoz said Thursday.

        The former Bengals player is chairman of the four-day evangelical program that kicks off June 27.

        Thursday, officials of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, along with local law enforcement and transportation officials, held a news conference laying out how parking, traffic, stadium security and accessibility for the disabled will be handled at the event.

        The mission is expected to fill the football stadium to near-capacity for four straight days.

        Officials are confident that the mission can be pulled off without a hitch.

        “One thing people need to understand about Billy Graham is that he has been doing this for 57 years,” said Rick Segal, a spokesman for the mission. “It is a tight, well-disciplined organization.”

        For most people planning to come to the event, Mr. Segal said, “the easiest way to get here will be by bus.”

        Metro and TANK are both planning special bus routes with park-and-ride locations, where mission-goers can purchase a round-trip ticket.

        On the Ohio side of the river, there will be park-and-ride locations at Raymond Walters College in Blue Ash, Swifton Commons in Bond Hill, Western Hills Plaza, the Beechmont Mall and the Mount Washington Church of Christ.

        In Northern Kentucky, TANK will have buses leaving from park-and-ride locations at Northern Kentucky University and Turfway Park.

        Persons with disabilities can purchase a parking pass for Lot 1 — the lot nearest the stadium — by calling Graham Mission headquarters at 351-6040.

        Jeff Anderson, the Graham mission director, said there will be more than 500 volunteers assisting the disabled from their cars to seats in the stadium.

        The programs will be free and open to all. It will be “festival” seating, with no reserved seats.

        In a city where, 23 years ago, 11 people were killed in a crush of fans at a Who concert at Riverfront Coliseum, “festival seating” is now illegal — but the city's law exempts religious events.

        “We've done this before with 45,000 at a high school football game, so we're not concerned that this will be a problem,” said Eric Brown, the Bengals' stadium manager.

        Mr. Anderson said that in addition to hundreds of Cincinnati police and Hamilton County sheriff's deputies, there will be at least 1,100 volunteer ushers helping get people to seats.

        Inside the stadium, Mr. Anderson said, disabled people will be seated on the field at the north end.

        There will be no other seating on the field, Mr. Anderson said, because that area is needed for Mr. Graham's “altar call” at the end of his sermon, where people come down to make a “commitment to Christ.”
       

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