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involved
in our commitment to restoration. . For example, the historic period to
which it is restored affects what might be done to the front porch area.
Additionally, further inspection of the foundation and supporting beams,
especially in the southern 2/3rd of the Meeting House, needs to be completed
to know the extent of restoration required.
If
you have questions or suggestions before Yearly Meeting please contact
one of our committee members, who are listed in the IYM Directory.
IYM Dormitory
By Brent Eckert, Co-Clerk
Maintenance & Planning Committee
The IYM dormitory will not
be used any longer for sleeping accommodations. This may come as
a shock to some Friends while others have undoubtedly already heard about
this change. Why, after using the dormitory for so many years, has
it "suddenly" been deemed unsafe? This was not a hasty decision,
nor was it a decision that the Maintenance & Planning Committee made
lightly. For several years now the Committee has been investigating
the issue of fire safety in regard to all of the IYM buildings. Fire
safety is not a "black and white" issue, that is, a building is not simply
safe or unsafe. In reality it is a continuum and a building can be
at any point on that range between "safe" and "unsafe." After much
research and discussion and consultation with experts the Committee decided
at its fall 2002 meeting that the dorm is too far toward the "unsafe" end
of the continuum. Therefore, we feel it is unwise to continue using
the building as sleeping quarters. IYM Continuing Committee has agreed
and endorsed the Maintenance & Planning Committee's recommendation.
What makes it "unsafe"
or not safe enough?
Fire codes describe systematic
ways to lessen |
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the
chances of people being injured or killed by fire in buildings. The
codes are continually being revised based on fire professionals' experiences
with real fires in real buildings. There are three basic areas of
consideration regarding fire safety for buildings: 1) preventing fire from
starting; 2) slowing the spread of fire from one area to another within
a building; and 3) ensuring that people can get out of a burning building
quickly enough to escape injury or death. The dorm gets good marks
in the area of preventing a fire from starting since the only fire source
in the building is the water heaters in the lower level. The dorm
fails in the second area of concern because of the unfinished, open construction
of the interior. There is no ceiling, the rooms have no doors, the
walls do not reach the floor, and all the interior surfaces are wood.
If a fire started it is easy to see that it would spread very quickly and
probably the entire building would be engulfed long before the fire dept.
could arrive. It also does not fare well with area three. The
interior hallways and exterior stairways are too narrow, the exterior doors
swing inward which impedes quick escape, and the windows cannot be used
as emergency exits because they do not provide larger enough openings.
The
report of our consulting architect, Michael Lambert, states, in part: "In
its present state the dormitory is not a safe structure for lodging overnight
guests. … the building does not comply with means of egress (emergency
exits) or handicap access. In fact, although exit doors are of sufficient
width, the doors swing inward and are not equipped with appropriate exit
hardware. Corridors and exterior exit stairways are of insufficient
width; balconies, handrails and guard rails are combustible and not code-compliant.
No smoke or heat detection systems, emergency lighting or audible and visual
alarms exist in the building. Aside from the unprotected, wood construction,
the jalousie windows create a life-threatening situation in the event of
a fire or other emergency situation. The existing windows may be
replaced with |
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