Grand arcade can stay open without new sprinklers
City, Madison Marquette unsure if Convention Hall shops can re-open
Convention Hall’s grand arcade can legally remain open without the installation of fire sprinklers, city officials have determined.
The future of the rest of the building is unclear. No events have been scheduled in Convention Hall or the Paramount Theatre past May 1, and officials are unsure if the shops and bars lining the grand arcade can reopen.
Since 2006, state fire code has required public facilities like Convention Hall to install sprinkler systems, city fire chief Kevin Keddy said last week. The city and boardwalk redeveloper Madison Marquette signed a consent order last year requiring the sprinklers to be installed by 2015, with certain benchmarks being met along with way, Keddy said.
The court ordered deadline for Madison Marquette to begin meeting the benchmarks was today, Reidy said. But Madison Marquette has said sprinkler installation isn’t economically feasible. The city has granted them a 45-day extension, Reidy said. Setbacks caused by Hurricane Sandy contributed to this decision.
Because the grand arcade — the portion of Convention Hall that walkers and runners pass through to get from one end of the boardwalk to the other — is considered to be a public easement, it can stay open without new sprinklers, Reidy said. The city and Madison Marquette are currently examining fire codes to see if any other portions of the building can stay open before new sprinklers are installed.
Different uses of the building trigger different safety requirements, Reidy said.
The city is helping Madison Marquette to find potential funding sources for the sprinklers, Reidy said. Madison Marquette has said the installation of sprinklers is an economic hardship.
Reidy hopes a solution can be reached soon so that the businesses that rent space in Convention Hall can reopen, he said.
“These smaller businesses add so much vitality and character to the arcade, and most of them are local, so we’re going to do everything we can do get that back,” he said.
About eight businesses line either side of the grand arcade, while two bars flank the northern and southern sides of Convention Hall. Concerts and events are held in the Paramount Theatre and Convention Hall venues inside in the eastern and western portions of the building.
No events have been scheduled in any portion of the Convention Hall complex past May 1 because of the sprinkler issue.
The consent order includes a section which would allow Madison Marquette to forego installing sprinklers and close the building if continued operation of the building is not economically feasible, according to Madison Marquette’s senior vice president Anselm Fusco.
“The requirement to install sprinklers in nearly all of historic Convention Hall is very expensive — we’ve received quotes for the work in excess of $1 million,” Fusco said in a prepared statement last week. “The building is costly to operate — it runs at a significant loss every year — and to invest so much additional capital in this situation is not economically feasible.”
City resident Werner Baumgartner said during public comment at last night’s council meeting that Convention Hall is “a completely fireproof building.”
“It’s made of steel, concrete, mortar and plaster,” he said. “It was designed fireproof because of the fires that destroyed the original casino and original arcade. It was a novelty at the time to have a completely fireproof building. Of course, what you put in it can burn.”
He suggested that installing sprinklers to cover the entire building would be “monumental and completely unnecessary.” Instead, he suggested sprinklers be installed in garbage areas, storage areas, kitchens and places where there are flammable and combustible materials.
Also, the state’s rehabilitation sub-code “trumps any building code or fire code in the state for pre-existing structures,” he said. “If you’re rehabilitating a structure, as long as you don’t make it less safe than it already is, you can pretty much run with it [under the rehabilitation sub-code].”
The city council discussed the rehabilitation sub-code in the closed session prior to the meeting, Deputy Mayor John M. Loffredo said. They will look into it further, he added.
