Choosing De Anza College’s Flint Center for the Performing Arts to stage the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch event meant Apple returning to the place where Steve Jobs first introduced the Macintosh computer in 1984 and the iMac in 1998. However, the bill for the September 9 event was significantly higher compared to the previous one though: according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple paid more than $1 million to secure the place.
As local government records show, the bill for staging the event included a “disruption fee” to the college of half a million, rental fees for campus and round-the-clock security involving more than 35 officers from three departments.
Apple agreed to pay $55,000 to use the college’s Media and Learning Center, $92,000 for the Campus Center and nearly $10,000 for two parking lots. Apple was also responsible for restoring the balustrades surrounding the sunken garden where the temporary structure was located, at an estimated cost of $400,000 to $450,000.
To keep busybodies at bay, Apple paid for police to patrol the area. It paid the Foothill De Anza police to provide overnight security for 6 ½ hours a night for 26 days. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office provided more than 140 hours of “crowd control” over 25 days involving 22 deputies, two sergeants and one lieutenant. The Mountain View police department provided 72 hours of police staffing.
The bill for all that security: $42,000 – roughly as much as Apple generates in revenue in nine seconds.
According to a De Anza spokeswoman, the college has a longtime association with Apple, as both Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak attended classes there.
