Madison, WI – The Alliant Energy Center held some of its first events of the summer season this pastweekend, marking a hopeful turning of the page following a long year of the COVID-19 pandemic.High school graduations for the DeForest, Monona Grove and Mount Horeb senior classes went offwithout a hitch Saturday and Sunday. The Dane County Farmers’ Market along with COVID-19 testingand vaccinations made the busy weekend even more so.Thousands attended the graduations and farmers’ market, observing appropriate social distancingguidelines and taking full advantage of provided hand sanitizing stations. The turnout showed just howstrong demand is for a return to in-person events.Marquee shindigs like the CrossFit Games and Dane County Fair are set to make their reappearancethis summer. And early in the fall, the World Dairy Expo will again hold its traditional five-day event.“We’re doing our due diligence to make sure the Alliant Energy Center is reopening with public health inmind,” Alliant Energy Center Executive Director Brent McHenry said.Given the waning pandemic still weighing heavy on many minds, Dane County has taken sanitationseriously to help keep the facilities spick and span. The Alliant Energy Center recently installed anionization system designed to remove viruses, like the strains responsible for COVID-19, from the air.The venue has also been given Global Bio-risk Advisory Council (GBAC) STAR™ facility accreditationfor its infectious diseases preparation and response.During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff from Public Health Madison & Dane County kept the AlliantEnergy Center busy, offering free testing and vaccinations to help combat the disease’s spread.The Alliant Energy Center is next scheduled to host the Outdoor Reps Association Summer TradeShow June 22 to 24.Click here to view/download the pdf version