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casement
style windows which meet the required dimensions for emergency egress…"
(The complete reports of all the professional inspections done this year
will be available at the yearly meeting session this summer.)
Codes, codes, codes:
"I thought there were no codes in Putnam County?"
Many of you, like me, may
have heard Friends over the years say such things as, "There are no building
codes in Putnam County, so we can do whatever we want here!" While
it is true that there are no building codes, per se, that are the law in
Putnam County, there are other codes that are the law and that we must
legally follow. The Life Safety Code (a.k.a. NFPA 101) is the basic
fire code and it is the law throughout all of Illinois. I have studied
this code and had, independently of any professional's opinion, determined
that the dorm is not in compliance with the most basic fire safety concepts
of this code. There is also an Illinois State Plumbing Code that
we must comply with. The current edition of the National Electrical
Code is also the law for all of Illinois. For sewer and water issues
we must comply with the Bureau County Health Department's regulations.
(Putnam County does not have its own health dept.) So, as you can
see, it is far from "anything goes" in Putnam County. (Thanks to
Chip Rorem for his research into pertinent codes for Putnam County.)
A little history
The IYM dormitory was built
in 1960 at a cost of about $18,000. It was designed to sleep 144
persons in order to accommodate a growing yearly meeting. Previous
to the construction of the dormitory Friends stayed in the homes of Clear
Creek Friends or camped on the limited space on the south side of Quaker
Lane. (The property on the north side of the road (the current campground)
was not acquired until the early 1970s.) It seems that there was
not consensus in the yearly meeting on building the dormitory at all, so
it was built as simply and |
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inexpensively
as possible. What was probably seen as simplicity at the time unfortunately
contributes to the building's fire safety problems. There is no evidence
that the dorm was designed by an architect. Most likely the local
contractor who built the dorm also did the architectural designing.
Fire safety concerns were probably not at the top of the list of priorities.
In a report in the 1960 IYM minutes the building committee said: "It has
been suggested that the facilities [i.e., the new dorm] be insulated so
that seminars, retreats, etc. can be held here during the colder months.
Friends Generals Conference also expressed the hope that we planned to
insulate and heat the building so that year-round activities could be held.
That has not been done, but the plans were made so that insulation can
be added and heating installed later on, with little if any more expense
than would have been required had the work been done while the building
was under construction." (A furnace was installed at some time since
1960 but it has not been kept in safe working order. The building
was never insulated and the jalousie windows do not provide air-tight closure
anyway.) It is disheartening to see that 43 years later we are still
talking about the same problem of lack of a year-round facility.
What is the plan for this
year?
While the Maintenance &
Planning Committee feels that the dorm is not safe enough to use for sleeping
accommodations any longer, the Committee feels it is reasonable and safe
enough to use for daytime activities such as small group meetings.
(In case of an emergency a person can get out of a building much more quickly
if already awake. A smaller number of people in the building also
decreases the potential danger.) Also, in order to have an adequate
number of toilet facilities we will need to use the restrooms in the dorm.
But the Committee requests the cooperation and understanding of all Friends
in not using the dorm for sleeping at any time during the year, until sufficient
changes are made. |
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