Sprinkler plan keeps Baptist retirement home from closing

For the residents of Clara Verner Tower retirement center in Tuscaloosa, the new year began with a sigh of relief.
   
After almost a month of worry and speculation, the building’s senior residents heard the good news that they would get to stay in their home.
   
Owned by Alabama Baptist Retirement Centers (ABRC) in Montgomery — an entity of the Alabama Baptist Sate Convention — Clara Verner Tower has no sprinkler system, which is a violation of both city and state fire codes. 
   
Built in 1975, when no sprinkler system was required, the building’s residents had only experienced small kitchen fires and no major fire-related injuries until this past November, according to the Tuscaloosa News.
   
On Nov. 20, a fire on the eighth floor caused major damage to one apartment unit, the News reported. Two residents were taken to DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa with anxiety and breathing problems.
   
ABRC had until the end of 2005 to bring the building up to code but could not do so because of a lack of funds, according to Billy Austin, ABRC president. He noted that ABRC had been trying aggressively, but unsuccessfully, to find funding.
   
Austin met Dec. 9 with residents to discuss what the fire code violations could mean for the apartment building’s future, including a possible closure of the apartments.
   
He noted that ABRC had until Jan. 3 to submit a written plan to the state fire marshal, detailing how it planned to address the need for a sprinkler system, thereby stalling a possible closure.
   
That plan was submitted by Austin Dec. 27 and was approved “virtually immediately,” he said. 
   
The plan calls for sprinklers to be installed in every apartment on every floor. “We will be in total accordance with all codes and regulations,” he said.
   
This means the residents of Clara Verner Tower get to remain in their home.
   
“The residents feel very strongly about living there,” Austin said. “We appreciate their loyalty and faithfulness in standing by us during a very difficult time.”
   
When ABRC first began researching sprinkler systems, the estimated cost was $867,000, Austin said. But this time, the estimated cost is much less than expected. He noted that ABRC is still working out the details of funding. 
   
“We are working diligently to put the finishing touches on a plan to secure Clara Verner Tower both now and for the future,” Austin said. He said ABRC does anticipate using a $287,000 block grant that had been offered by the city of Tuscaloosa a few years ago. That grant is contingent upon ABRC raising the rest of the money needed for a sprinkler system, which Austin said ABRC is currently working to do.
   
The city’s fire marshal and engineers now have the sprinkler plan, and it will be implemented as soon as they approve it, he said. Although the city has not given him a time frame on when it would make a decision, Austin said he did not anticipate any delays because of the urgent need for the system.
   
He estimated that once the plan is approved, it should take three to four months to install the system.
   
In the interim, ABRC is using fire monitors to walk the halls, looking for fire hazards and helping to evacuate residents, if necessary. Austin said there are three shifts of six monitors, with each monitor covering two floors of the building. The first floor is not monitored because no residents live there and paid staff are there 24 hours a day. Residents and Tuscaloosa Baptist Association churches serve as volunteer monitors for the two day shifts, and Clara Verner Tower is paying for night shift volunteers, he said.
   
Austin said he anticipated using the fire monitors until the sprinkler system is completed.
   
According to its Web site, ABRC owns five retirement centers on four sites in Alabama, including Clara Verner Tower, Baptist Village Townhouses and Baptist Village Hutto Tower in Dothan, Eastview in Montgomery and Knollwood in Roanoke.(Tuscaloosa News contributed)