The building that houses IMPD's East District roll call facility and the City's homeland security facility doesn't have an operating fire sprinkler system. As a consequence, a firefighter is paid to watch over the facility on a 24/7 basis. I mentioned
rumors about this problem a couple of weeks ago when I told you how the Ballard administration was trying to pull a fast one on Lockerbie residents and move Fire District Station #7 from Mass Avenue to the heart of the eastern downtown neighborhood on the Lockerbie North parcel at Michigan and College Streets. WRTV's Jack Rinehart
confirms the rumor in a report today:
Fire and building code violations are putting Metro police employees at risk and raising questions about government oversight at the renovation of the IMPD East District Roll Call facility.
The fire sprinkler system installed at East District Roll Call was never approved, and so far, it has failed to work, but Metro police and civilian employees were moved into the building anyway nine months ago.
A firefighter remains on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because the fire sprinkler system in the building will not send an alarm to an outside security company or fire dispatch.
According to city codes, the contractor is required to submit a plan before construction begins and the building is occupied.
"In most cases our plan review, they do review them. But for whatever reason, I don't think our plan reviewer had a chance to see these plans. I'm not sure (why not)," said Indianapolis Fire Department Fire Marshal Fred Pervine . . .
Rinehart reports that the contractor responsible for renovating the former Eastgate Mall for use by the City is paying $35 an hour to have a firefighter monitor the building 24/7. The City will be paying the building's owner $87,000 a month in rent beginning in January for a 25-year lease.
6 comments:
You go to be kidding, 87k X 12 X 25 = 26 million dollars. All of the work in that building is sub-standard, just take a look at it.
Frank G. Straub, PhD. is responsible for allowing this. Can the City send him the bill?
Where is the audit of Public Safety?
25 year lease? Who gets the money?
No sprinklers? No stipulation for normal safety measures covered by the landlord in the lease?
I can see bringing their own window treatments, but sprinklers? Come on!
This lease was under review for a long time, too. Makes you wonder how messed up other leases are.
It was all about that damn Super Bowl. They just had to have a brand new, state-of-the-art homeland security command center that Straub could show off during the big show. They rammed it through with very poor planning. I'm not familiar with the owner of the building. Does anyone know anything about him? Most of those guys grease somebody's palms to get one-sided leases with the city. Just ask John Bales.
Bales.
Isn't he in jail yet?
That was Ben Hunter's Council District and he was the Chairman of PSCJ Committee. I wonder what his culpability is in establishing Eastgate as a siphon for public funding. It certainly made an East side eyesore a viable facility at taxpayer expense! Thanks Ben
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