Building Operations Policies

The Koger Center is a NO SMOKING building. The only smoking permitted in the building is that associated with the plot of the production, and is confined to the stage only.

Tickets for events at the Koger Center can be purchased at the Carolina Coliseum Box Office from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Carolina Coliseum is located at the corner of Assembly Street and Greene Street. Access to the box office is from the Greene Street side of the building.

The ticket booth in the Koger Center lobby is only operated on the day of a performance.  Box office personnel are stationed at the ticket booth one hour prior to the start of each performance.

Food and Drink are not allowed in the stage area or in the auditorium and rehearsal rooms unless it is part of the action of the play. However, drinks in sports bottles are acceptable.

Photographic Equipment, of any type, or tape recorders are not allowed in the auditorium without proper written permission of the artist and theater management. It is essential that this information is passed along to parents. In the event that a building user elects to allow the use of cameras etc., the Koger Center management must be informed prior to the event taking place. Video equipment is restricted to the handicapped sections and, should it be necessary, will be removed to accommodate wheelchair patrons.

Late Seating is determined by the artist and enforced by Koger Center staff. Patrons arriving late are requested to remain outside the auditorium until a suitable break in the performance occurs.

Security at the Koger Center is designed for the benefit of people using the building, as well as for the protection of their personal items. Security staff do their best to be accommodating, but they cannot remember everyone who uses the building no matter how many times a person may have been here. If someone challenges you, please remember that it is a necessary part of our security procedures.

The Koger Center has no facilities available to securely keep ladies handbags during a performance. These items should be locked in the trunk of their cars. A water cooler is located in the large rehearsal room, and toilet facilities are available in the hallway outside the large rehearsal room. Priority is given to the performance on stage. Organizations using the rehearsal rooms while a performance is taking place are asked not to use the hallway beyond the toilet facilities, because this becomes a distraction to the artist appearing on stage.

Except for the auditorium, where the houselights are dimmed for the performance, all public areas of the building are to remain fully illuminated when members of the public are present in the building.

Parking is available in the lots along Park Street, including those behind the Coliseum. Only Handicapped parking is available at the Koger Center and towing is enforced when vehicles are parked in a Handicapped space without displaying a proper decal. The Loading Dock area is for unloading only. There are occasions when semi-tractor trailers and busses are parked there, but this is not a parking area for private cars. It is possible to unload at the dock but cars must then be removed to a properly designated parking space. This applies to Koger Center staff as much as it does to any other building user. Koger Center staff will not make any attempt to find the owner of a car that is improperly parked. We assume that people who park illegally do so knowingly, and are prepared to take the risk of being towed. Guests are reminded to allow extra time when a rehearsal or performance coincides with an event scheduled at the Carolina Coliseum or the Carolina Center, because parking becomes a premium.

Sponsor displays, signs and notices etc. No sponsor displays may be erected inside or outside the Koger Center, without the written consent of the Koger Center management. Additionally, no items may attached, permanently or otherwise, to the walls, windows, or doors of the Koger Center. When the auditorium is in use, no lobby displays of any kind may be placed along the red wall.

No tables, chairs or lobby display may be placed in such a manner that it blocks or restricts the path to an exit.

Helium balloons are not permitted in the Koger Center.

Naked flames, other than Sterno dish warmers, are not allowed in the Koger Center.

Electrical cables in the lobby areas cannot be taped to the carpets or walls, or across areas where Guests will walk over them.

Unless agreed to in writing beforehand, there is a curfew of 12:00 p.m. on all receptions held in the Koger Center. All guests are required to vacate the building at that time. When alcohol is served on a complimentary basis, whether the alcohol is donated or purchased, it must be served by a licensed caterer who carries appropriate insurance coverage. Alcohol which is to be sold, requires the granting of an ABC license which must be obtained by the lessee. Copies of licences and insurance must be presented to the Koger Center ten (10) days prior to the event.

The Green Room may be used only for the purposes of meeting and greeting guest after a performance. The green room is to remain fully illuminated while guests are in the room.

The front of house areas are off limits to performers, during performances & rehearsals. Artists are asked to remain in their allocated place in the backstage area. We ask that artists enter the building via the stage door, not via the front of house. Every person entering the auditorium during a performance, including babies in arms and small children, are required to have a ticket.

Visitors, including family and pets, are not allowed in the backstage area before, during, or after a performance or during a rehearsal. Special arrangements are made when artists wish to greet guests. These arrangements vary, depending upon the nature and size of an event.

The minimum staff call is four hours. After the first four hours, the staff are paid in one hour increments. Staff must receive a one-hour break after working five hours. Breaks are given at lunch time, between two rehearsals, between a rehearsal and performance, or between two performances. No break is necessary between the end of a performance and a load out. Performances and Load Out are two separate four hour calls.

Overtime is charged at a rate of time and a half when staff work more than eight hours of technical work in any one day. However, that does not apply to load outs which is a special call. And, of course, no overtime is charged when performance rates are paid. So, if a staff member works eight hours of technical work during the day plus a performance, a building user would not incur overtime.

As per the standard contract, Koger Center management will determine the staffing needs for performances. While there are no minimum staffing requirements, the Koger Center does require that two staff members are used on the flyrail, one on the controls, one throwing weights, when scenery or lights are being hung. In the event that the production requires that spotlines are rigged from the grid, three riggers will be needed to perform the task. All staff will be supplied by the Koger Center, with the exception that visiting companies are allowed one (1) person each side of the stage to handle show props. Shadow operators must be used when visiting companies bring in and operate their own lighting and sound equipment.

When smoke guns (fog) or dry ice machines are being used in connection with performances, such machines, for safety , must be operated by Koger Center staff.

Pyrotechnics can be used in the Koger Center. However, they must be operated by a licensed "shooter." Visiting companies are required to submit the name of the shooter, licence number, a full description of the materials to be used, and a copy of the company's liability insurance to the City Fire Marshal no less than three weeks prior to the performance. A permit to operate pyrotechnic effects must be obtained from the State Fire Marshal. A City of Columbia Fire Marshal will require a demonstration of the effects to be used and will be present during the performance. The cost of the Fire Marshal will be borne by the visiting company.

Smoke Guns and Dry Ice: Because of the need to have a Fire Marshal in the building when these effects are being used, The Event Manager must be given at least FIVE working days notice of the inclusion of these effects in a production. Failure to obtain a Fire Marshal will necessitate that these effects are excluded. The cost of having a Fire Marshal in attendance during performances will be borne by the visiting company.

Snow dumps, used for the purposes of a joke, are NOT allowed at the Koger Center. They are allowed as part of the action of a play, ballet etc.

Only Koger Center staff may operate the house equipment. The houselights and emergency systems in the Koger Center shall at all times be under the control of Koger Center employees.

Front of house stage lighting instruments are permanently mounted in place. There are 6 ellipsoidal lanterns in the near box booms on either side of the auditorium and they are arranged in pairs, from top to bottom 2 x 20 degree, 2 x 30 degree, 2 x 20 degree. There are 6 x 30 degree ellipsoidal lanterns in the far box booms on either side of the auditorium. These instruments cannot be removed for use elsewhere and, for safety reasons, we will not add additional instruments to the side arms in these positions. The lighting bridge is permanently mounted with 28 x 10 degree ellipsoidal lanterns and 3 x 8" fresnals that can be used as curtain warmers.

All requests for technical information and all technical information supplied to the Koger Center must be requested from/presented to the Event Manager, not to other staff members. The Event Manager will then take the appropriate action.

Koger Center policy provides for intermissions of 15 minutes in duration. Please do not request the House Manager or staff to change the policy, they cannot do so.