As final sound and security checks are being made at New York’s Hofstra University in preparation for the third and final presidential debate, ASU’s Gammage Auditorium is set to host a musical production that won’t bring moderator questions, candidate answers or much media chatter.

But four years ago, the Tempe campus was in the national spotlight hosting the final presidential debate between Democrat John Kerry and Republican George W. Bush. This year, ASU is absent from the presidential debate circuit, which University officials say is by choice.

Virgil Renzulli, vice president of public affairs, said ASU originally applied to host a 2008 debate but then withdrew its application.

“The debate was hard to do, and the price went up. It’s a lot of money to raise,” Renzulli said. “It’s quite elaborate. You need good logistical crews. Once you’ve done it, you know how difficult it is.”

Part of the difficulty is securing such a high-profile event, said Jay Spradling, assistant chief of ASU police. Spradling was assistant chief for the Tempe Police Department in 2004. Police departments from ASU, Tempe and Phoenix, as well as the Arizona Department of Public Safety, U.S. Secret Service, FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms all had a hand in securing the event, Spradling said.

“A lot of work and money goes into those types of events. They are nice for the University, but they take a lot of planning on a law enforcement level,” Spradling said.

Mike Reichling, fire investigator for the Tempe Fire Department, was commander of the civil support team of the Army National Guard for the event. His team worked with the fire department as a part of the contingency plan for the 2004 debate. He said his team prepped for more than a month and that only Pope John Paul II’s 1987 visit to Phoenix and Tempe required more planning.

“It’s a lot of extra work. The tunnels under ASU had to be swept. We combed every inch of Gammage days prior. It was a lot of man-hours,” Reichling said. “Contingency planning takes a lot of effort. We had to be able to respond to any scenario.”

Dealing with the media was also a huge component of bringing the debate to fruition in 2004, said Terri Cranmer, director of operations for ASU public events. She said the 880-workstation media center was housed on the lawn surrounding Gammage, accommodating about 3,000 members of the media.

“A lot of work went into setting up Gammage to be a TV studio and setting up a media filing center. We double fenced the block that Gammage sits on and housed both campaigns,” Cranmer said.

Renzulli said the media attention the debate brought to ASU was invaluable, especially since universities don’t spend money on advertising like big corporations do. It was probably equivalent to tens of millions of dollars in publicity to the school, he said.

“Try buying a half hour on CNN,” Renzulli said. “Every paper in the country carried stories on us. It was like winning a national football championship.”

Renzulli said the publicity for ASU was not totally without cost; it took about $1.7 million to fund the debate. Much of this was in the form of donations that had to be raised from many sources. Most of the money went toward paying $750,000 to the Commission on Presidential Debates.

The Commission’s fee for this year’s vice-presidential debate was $1.35 million, said Rob Wild, assistant to the chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis. The university also hosted debates in 1992, 2000 and 2004. Wild was the steering committee chair for this year’s vice-presidential debate.

Renzulli said the rise in cost was one of reasons ASU decided not to host this year.

Wild also said it was a great experience hosting the second highest rated debate since 1980, garnering 70 million viewers.

“It was great — one of most exciting things I’ve been involved in,” Wild said. “It was the highlight of the year for our community.”

But he wouldn’t speculate about hosting a debate for the 2012 election.

“I’m not sure, but we’re enjoying the afterglow of the event,” Wild said.

Neil Giuliano, the community-relations director for the 2004 ASU debate and former Tempe mayor, said the debate required a lot of work but was a tremendous experience for the University and students at the time. He is now the president of Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

“When a university can host a debate, it shows the university has capacity to do great things,” Giuliano said. “It was an amazing educational experience, especially for those who don’t pay attention to the election process. The campus became a living classroom for more than a week. It’s a great honor to be a part of presidential election history.”

Reach the reporter at philip.haldiman@asu.edu.