PATC to Install a New Access Control System at Headquarters this Spring!
By Evan Hoffmann
We are pleased to announce that this Spring, PATC will be installing a brand-new, electronic access control system in our headquarters building, in an effort to significantly increase safety and security for the club’s property, volunteers, and staff.
PATC Headquarters have been located at 118 Park Street, SE in Vienna, Va for nearly 40 years. The building serves as the primary administrative offices for our staff; houses the PATC store, cabin reservations desk, library, and our primary maintainer’s tool cache; and contains large and small conference rooms, which are regularly used for various meetings and training/educational events throughout the year.
Given the wide-ranging activities and events of the club, overseen by a large and dedicated assortment of volunteers and paid employees, between 60 to 80 individuals have copies of keys to the exterior doors of the building at any given time. It will therefore likely come as no surprise to most to hear that keeping tabs on who has access to the building can be quite a challenge!
To address this challenge, PATC is working with Baldino’s Lock & Key, a family-owned and DMV-based locksmith company, who have been a long-trusted vendor for PATC’s various cabin lock needs. Later this spring, Baldino’s will be replacing the locks on all exterior HQ doors and installing electronic access control readers on the three primary entrances for the building.
With this new technology in place, authorized staff and volunteers will no longer have need to carry a physical key, but rather be able to use their smart phone to gain entrance; visitors will be able to contact authorized individuals inside the building to request they be granted access remotely; and staff/leadership will be able to monitor a digital record of all individuals who enter headquarters. All in all, this will be a huge step forward in how we care for and protect the club’s people and things!
The installation of the new system is scheduled to occur sometime in May or June. Over the coming weeks, members of the PATC staff will be reaching out to all individuals currently in possession of physical building keys to assess their current needs and provide instructions on how to download and use the smartphone application needed for access credentials in the future.
Any club members or partners who believe that they require access to the building are encouraged to contact PATC’s Staff Director, Evan Hoffmann, at staffdirector@patc.net to learn more or make an access request.
