PROVIDENCE -- Mandatory sprinklers wouldn't be the first hardship
for Keith Papa's Greenwood Inn, but they could be the last.
"The cost of sprinklers in my building -- I don't think it would be
worth it," Papa told a special legislative commission studying fire
safety last night. "I'd be better off with a new building."
His Warwick restaurant is already suffering from a bad economy that was
exacerbated by the 9/11 terrorist attack. And a nearby bridge
construction project "is killing me," Papa said.
Even if he could get a low-interest loan to install sprinklers, "if you
don't show a profit . . . I don't see where that is going to help me a
lot."
Requiring sprinklers at more places of assembly has been a recurring
topic since the Feb. 20 fire at The Station nightclub, which killed 99
people. The West Warwick club did not have sprinklers. A fire ignited by
a pyrotechnic display at a rock show consumed the wooden building in
minutes.
The General Assembly created the 17-member special commission after the
fire to study the state's codes and recommend improvements.
Papa said he would rather suffer a reduction in his maximum capacity to
get below any cutoff for mandatory sprinklers. "I would be willing to
lose capacity," he said. But "then I'd be putting people out of work."
Robert and Deborah Correia, owners of the West Valley Inn, a West
Warwick banquet facility, offered similar testimony last evening.
"Each restaurant and nightclub owner would like to do whatever it takes
to prevent a fire," Robert Correia said. But they estimate the cost to
fully sprinkler their complex of function rooms would be $300,000.
"That's a large sum of money and it has to come from somewhere," he
said. "Where is this money going to come from?"
Maybe they could get a loan, he said. They could raise their prices. Or
maybe the state could give a tax break.
"You're going to have to decide how it gets paid," he said. He predicted
that numerous businesses would not be able to afford to retrofit
sprinklers if they are required, and would close.
"We're not against it," he said. "If you demand a sprinkler system, it
will go in. But a lot of people can't afford it."
THE U.S.
Small Business Administration is already speaking
to private lenders about making loans available for small businesses
that may face new costs from changes in fire regulations, said Mark
Hayward, the district director for the SBA's Rhode Island office.
"We all are focused on the need to provide the public with a safe
environment," Hayward told the commission last night. "However, in doing
so, we can accomplish this goal by not compromising the financial
condition of our small business community."
Earl Queenan, the director of finance for the Rhode Island Economic
Development Corporation, said some businesses "on the bubble" may not
qualify for private loans backed by the SBA. The Economic Development
Corporation "will be there to fill the gaps," he said.
Installing sprinklers should lower a business's insurance costs, though
not by enough to cover the annual payments on a construction loan to
retrofit sprinklers, Queenan said.
Ronald J. Meehan, an insurance underwriting supervisor, said the
insurance savings for sprinklers is "substantial," though he could not
give an estimate last night.
Commission member Dale Venturini, the president of the R.I. Hospitality
& Tourism Association, volunteered to work with Meehan to survey a
number of businesses over the next two weeks, to determine how much they
would save in insurance premiums if they installed sprinklers.
Donald L. Schmidt, senior vice president for Marsh USA Inc. and a
consultant and author on risk management, told the commission that
sprinkler systems "have a century-old record of safeguarding building
occupants." There has been "no large loss-of-life fire" in a building
with a properly designed and maintained sprinkler system.
He said business owners often do a good job making their buildings safe,
and a bad job notifying their insurance companies of the new safeguards.
He recommended that businesses invite their insurers to visit their
properties. Sometimes insurance reps can recommend inexpensive things
that can lower a business's risk, he said.
