Deanne Pittman, Centretown News
Luc Barbe is one of the additional security guards hired to supervise Nature Nocturne events.The Canadian Museum of Nature will implement stricter security measures at its popular Nature Nocturne event on Jan. 29, a response to concerns about illicit boozing among the huge crowds being drawn to the nightclub-style gatherings at the Centretown natural history venue.
Guests will no longer be allowed to re-enter the museum if they leave, even temporarily.
It’s a move designed to prevent people from smuggling their own supplies of alcohol into the event.
Nature Nocturne is a monthly party held at the McLeod Street museum.
A ticket to the event gives attendees the chance to drink, dance and explore the museum’s exhibits after regular business hours. The museum-turned-nightclub event has been extremely popular since its launch in January 2013, with over 46,000 tickets sold to date.
Jill Sadler, the museum’s director of visitor experience, says the museum decided to introduce the new security policy prohibiting re-entry specifically because of concerns about liquor being brought inside.
“We have seen people attempt to bring in their own alcohol to the event,” says Sadler.
“As a result of some of this activity on the security side we continue to look for ways to improve safety for all of our guests and this is one of the decisions that we made.”
An Ottawa security expert who asked not to be identified says that the new rule makes sense, from a security standpoint.
A museum is an event venue that contains all of the amenities that guests might need. Extraordinary circumstances aside, there’s no reason a guest should have to step out.
By preventing guests from exiting the building to re-enter later, it reduces the chance that someone will to try to bring alcohol, drugs, or other prohibited items back into the event, the source explains.
Nature Nocturne has become so popular that it now sells out on a regular basis.
Sadler says that as the host of a licensed event, guest safety is a major responsibility.
This means ongoing investigation into how to handle long line-ups, the best way to move guests in and out of the museum, and where to place security guards, among other security concerns.
“Certainly, for the administration staff, going from running family programming to adult programming that happens to be licensed, it’s an adjustment,” says Sadler.
Despite some growing pains, Nature Nocturne has been welcomed by the surrounding neighbourhood, according to Sadler.
She says she’s only aware of one complaint ever made about the event – an issue with the loud music coming from speakers placed outside the museum.
This was resolved by turning the speakers away from the street, and everyone’s been happy since, she says.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have great community partners who understand that they live downtown in an area where there are functions in the evening. We’ve had really great support from our neighborhood, all the way through.”
University of Ottawa student David Kornhauser has attended Nature Nocturne on two occasions.
He says that while long lines and crowding were a minor annoyance at his first event in July, things were a bit more organized when he went again in November. Kornhauser says he found security adequate on both occasions.
“It was definitely a cool experience,” he says. “When you were tired of all the partying, you could go and look at the exhibits. It was a lot of fun.”
Right now, the museum doesn’t have any plans to expand the number of tickets it makes available for Nature Nocturne.
Sadler says the current monthly average of 2,000 tickets is exactly what the museum feels it’s prepared to handle.