Antiglobalization activists are extending an invitation to fellow sympathizers to gather in Glynn County during the Group of 8 world summit in June on Sea Island.
Since the international meeting traditionally draws protesters, that comes as little surprise to area officials. The location of the proposed gathering, however, does.
According to the G8 Carnival group's Web site, www.g8carnival.org, a peaceful festival is being planned at Glynn County Stadium, and use of the facility, which is property of the Glynn County School System, has not yet been approved.
And "It won't be granted," said Paul McKenzie, assistant director of human resources for the school system who also handles the approval of use of school facilities by the public.
He has asked the group to remove information regarding the stadium from its Web site. As of 10 a.m. today, however, the information had not been removed.
G8 Carnival is not the only organization interested in school buildings and fields in Glynn County. A number of other organizations have contacted McKenzie to seek applications for use of facilities during the summit.
Traditionally, school facilities are available for public use, from fields to classrooms to cafeterias. Because of the sheer acreage of school system properties, McKenzie said they make an ideal candidate — and target — for use during the summit.
"We've got facilities that are strategically located in almost every part of Glynn County," he said, adding that if, in a worst-case scenario, a terrorist group gained control of a school system building, the consequences could be tragic.
"The truth is that even if they could not affect the summit itself, a school building or school facilities are in the middle of people's lives. A problem could be created where a lot of...lives could be in danger."
But that would be an extreme situation, McKenzie said. More realistically, local and federal law enforcement and public safety officials might need the facilities for a variety of reasons.
To ensure public safety has what it needs, the Glynn County Board of Education voted Nov. 24 to suspend the current policy of public use of facilities during the month of June.
Passing such a sweeping, yet temporary, change to the facilities use policy serves another purpose — it shields the school system from claims that it is disregarding applicants for personal or political reasons, he said.
"We're not trying to be exclusionary based on some fear of these organizations," McKenzie said. "What we're basically trying to do here is have an authorization process that goes beyond us... It's just that we don't understand the breadth of the security issues that are at stake here."
That sort of preliminary cooperation between the school system and city and county officials has given Brunswick Fire Department Chief Lee Stewart what he called "a good feeling."
Earlier this year, Stewart requested the use of school properties as alternative sites for fire stations during the summit, if necessary. The response from administrators was very accommodating, Stewart said.
Still, no school facilities have been officially assigned to agencies because plans still remain tentative.
"We don't have a clue what's going on so we're just trying to be proactive in talking with people," Stewart said, adding that right now, "being receptive to our requests and our needs" is important.
G8 Carnival also cited on its Web site the stadium's proximity to the Brunswick Exchange Club fairgrounds, which could be used for camping, as making it a prime gathering spot. According to the site, use of the fairgrounds has not been granted yet.
Exchange Club member and Brunswick Mayor Brad Brown said that, as far as he is aware, protest organizers have not contacted the Exchange Club and members have not discussed allowing groups of protesters to use the facility.
"I doubt very seriously that the group would allow such just because of the potential damage that could be created," he said.
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