ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 4, 1996 TAG: 9612040056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Gov. George Allen said he will find money to put sprinkler systems in 12 high-rise dormitories at state-supported colleges.
``This is a safety issue,'' Allen told reporters Monday. ``There will be appropriations.''
The Associated Press reported last week that high-rise dorms on seven Virginia campuses do not have life-saving sprinkler systems in student living areas.
About 7,000 students live in the state's dozen high-rises. Five of the dorms are at Virginia Tech, two each at Longwood College and Norfolk State University and one each at Radford University, James Madison University and the University of Virginia. The 13th high-rise, housing about 200 students, is at Hampton University, a private school.
Fire safety experts say lack of sprinklers in the high-rise dorms is an invitation to disaster. The dormitories have more residents and take longer to evacuate than smaller dorms, and some are too tall for fire rescue ladders to reach the top floors.
A Virginia Tech spokesman said Tuesday the university is waiting for clarification from the governor's office on the source of money for the sprinkler improvements to its five older high-rise dorms.
"We're not sure what the governor's statement means," spokesman Dave Nutter said.
Last week, Tech gave a ballpark figure of $3.2million to install sprinkler systems. That has since been revised to $5.6million, a figure forwarded to the state secretary of public education's office, Nutter said.
The complication is that dormitories are not usually funded from state tax revenue. Instead, they are authorized by the General Assembly but funded by revenue bonds, a type of borrowing supported by the dorm fees paid by students.
A $5.6million expenditure would mean those fees would rise by $58 per student per year, Nutter said. That's a 4 percent increase from the present $1,398 dorm fee paid by Tech's 8,300 on-campus students.
Tech officials said last week they believe that even without sprinklers in the five dorms, they have a very safe fire-prevention and alert system in place. One Tech official said he didn't believe sprinklers dramatically improved safety in dorms. Until the governor's announcement, there were no plans to upgrade the dorms, which are Slusher, Ambler Johnston, O'Shaugnessy, Pritchard and Lee halls.
Radford University officials said last week it would cost an estimated $900,000 to add a sprinkler system to Muse Hall. An official said sprinklers would be ideal, but the university was taking enough precautions to ensure students' safety.
Longwood President Patricia Picard Cormier said Secretary of Education Beverly Sgro called her Monday for an estimate on the cost of putting sprinklers in the school's two 10-story dorms.
Cormier said she also sent a letter to the presidents of the other colleges with high-rises lacking sprinkler systems.
``What I'm hoping is they will come forward and do what they should do for their students and the commonwealth of Virginia,'' Cormier said.
Cormier announced Friday that the school will put sprinklers in its two high-rises as well as in several smaller dorms.
``As an educator and as a parent, I believe very strongly that the welfare of our students is of the utmost importance,'' Cormier said. ``We have been entrusted with their lives.''
Longwood mailed 10,000 letters to high school seniors on the college's recruiting list, assuring them that the Farmville college is making every effort to guarantee their safety if they attend Longwood. Letters also were sent to the parents of Longwood's 3,200 students informing them of the plan to put in sprinklers.
Staff writer Brian Kelley contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 linesby CNB