Local clubs face sprinkler deadline

REVERE – A Thursday state deadline for installing sprinklers and making other fire safety improvements hangs over six Revere bars and clubs and four in Lynn.Inspectors in both cities could order the establishments closed if they do not complete the installations, but Revere’s fire chief said Monday he would give club owners some leeway if they can prove they have started making improvements.”The deadline gives us a lot of discretion if we think there is a good faith effort being made,” said Fire Chief Eugene Doherty.Doherty said the Italian American Club is appealing the sprinkler installation requirement to a state board responsible for reviewing challenges to the deadline.Two other establishments – Big Lou’s and the Mirage – must file contractor’s documents or architect’s reports outlining their plans to comply with the safety requirements and the Beachmont Veterans of Foreign Wars club is seeking financing to pay for improvement work.Doherty said Reardon’s, Bill Ash’s and the Caravan are seeking extensions beyond the Thursday deadline. He said the clubs would be inspected today before any agreement on extending deadlines is finalized.Four Lynn clubs are also under city orders to submit plans for installing sprinklers: Café El Caney, Christina’s, Sori’s Restaurant and the Blue Note Lounge.The Fire Department sent club owners a final reminder notice on Sept. 7 outlining the compliance responsibilities.The fight over sprinklers is still being waged more than three years after Massachusetts passed an automatic sprinkler law in the wake of a deadly nightclub fire in Rhode Island.The law req-uires any club with occupancy of 100 or more to install sprinklers. The 2003 fire at The Station, in West Warwick, R.I., which started when a band’s pyrotechnics ignited soundproofing foam, inspired the changes. There were no sprinklers. The blaze killed 100 people and injured 200 more.Under the new law, local fire departments were tasked with identifying establishments in their communities that must install sprinklers, but in the statute lawmakers didn’t define nightclub, dance hall, discotheque, bar, or other entertainment venues. The law does not apply to restaurants.”Local fire chiefs struggled early on making a distinction between entertainment venue and a restaurant,” state Fire Marshal Steven Coan said.Boston officials have granted temporary extensions to more than 100 establishments because they submitted signed contracts for scheduled sprinkler installation, but another 67 haven’t done so, making them eligible to be shut down.(Associated Press material was used in this report.)