By Jane Prendergast
Enquirer staff writer

New rules proposed for Cincinnati's largest concerts could allow promoters to again use festival seating.

A City Council committee will vote Tuesday on whether to repeal the ban on general admission, festival seating, which has been in place since 11 people died in a crowd rush at the then-Riverfront Coliseum before a 1979 concert by The Who.

The repeal will be discussed at a meeting of council's Law and Public Safety committee, where Chairman David Pepper expects it to pass. The full council will then take it up Wednesday.

"There's a lot that's going to be required here,'' Pepper said. "This is a very closely watched process with a lot of restrictions."

The proposed plan says promoters who want to sell tickets for general admission would have to submit a written plan that would include what type of crowd is expected, including its age range, and how crowd behavior will be handled. It would require doors to open two hours before the event and all open -seating tickets to be sold in advance.

The number of concertgoers allowed will be calculated according to National Fire Protection Association standards, which Fire Chief Robert Wright said called for one person per every 7 square feet of arena space.

The space will differ, he said, depending upon how much area the concert act takes up with its stage and equipment.

The proposal also says all ushers and security personnel would be in place 21/2 hours before the event.

The fire department will determine, based on the answers in the promoter's application, how many extra fire personnel will be necessary.

"I'm comfortable with it," Wright said.

"We're a lot smarter than we were back in '79."

At the 1979 Who concert, patrons mistakenly thought the band's warmup was actually the concert starting, so they tried to crowd through too few open doors. People fell and were trampled.

Pepper said a host of arenas across the country - from Madison Square Garden in New York City to arenas in Cleveland, Columbus and Indianapolis - allow festival seating.

E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com