The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that could make installing sprinkler systems in on-campus living facilities mandatory for all schools in the state.
Penn State officials have already begun to prepare for the possibility of the bill making it through the senate and being signed into law.
If the state mandates sprinkler installation in Pennsylvania dorms, the university wants to be ready to begin renovations, said Fred Fotis, director of housing and food service at Penn State.
"Right now we're looking at how we can do this, what will be involved, what effects it will have," Fotis added.
Penn State has met with an engineering firm that specializes in equipping buildings for fire safety, Gage and Babcock & Associates, about design possibilities for the existing dorms on campus.
The first dorm the firm is looking at, Fotis said, is Hamilton Hall in West Halls, where improvements are tentatively scheduled to begin this summer.
"We're now working out what the scope of the work is going to be," said Charles Hahl, principal of Gage and Babcock & Associates.
The plans are still in the early stages, Fotis said, but shouldn't require any residence halls to be emptied during the construction process.
"There is no plan at this time to close down a building," Fotis said. "We know that there's no way we can empty out a building."
The bill calls for the installations to be completed in five years, with a two year grace period for schools that seem to be making a concerted effort to get the installations done, said state Rep. Lynn Herman.
Penn State hopes to have all the dorms on campus equipped with sprinklers within the five-year period and finish most of the construction during the summer months.
There is a possibility that students will be living in dorms while sprinklers are added around them, however, said Paul Ruskin, customer service coordinator for the Office of the Physical Plant.
Any construction going on during the Fall or Spring Semesters will be done in public areas of the dorms, and not within any students' rooms, Ruskin added.
"We may still be active in a building while students are here," he said. "Our goal is not to interrupt student living."
Money for improvements will come from low interest loans that will be made available to public and private schools instituting the changes in their living areas. The loan money would come from a special "Sprinkler Loan Fund" in the State Treasury.
Though Fotis said the ideal situation for the university would include making all the renovations when the dorms are empty in the summer, if the bill becomes law the university may have no choice but to work around students.
"If the state says we're going to have to do it than we're going to have to do it," Fotis said.
