July 10, 2003

Gym capacity restricted at middle school

       Center Grove Community School Corp. has agreed to limit the crowds at a new middle school gymnasium in response to concerns from local safety inspectors.  Occupancy at Center Grove Middle School North’s main gym and auditorium will be capped at 1,450, sufficient for any events planned in the room, Assistant Superintendent Jerry Dunn said.  Inspectors for the Johnson County planning department and the White River Township Fire Department were concerned that the gym lacked sufficient emergency exits for its capacity.  Although the bleachers are designed for fewer that 1,100 spectators, the floor space potentially could raise total capacity to more that 1,600 for events using the stage.

         The inspectors recommended a new set of double doors to provide ample exit width in the event of a fire or other emergency, but they agreed to support the school district’s request for a variance, using secondary doors to the backstage and locker areas to help compensate for the shortfall.  Later, however, the inspectors questioned why the architect’s consultant cited cost as a reason for seeking the variance, when the school system expected to have nearly $1 million unspent in a construction contingency fund.  They filed a request for the state’s building commission to review the variance.

         After meeting again, however, inspectors and school officials measured the existing doors and agreed on the occupancy cap.  The school system also agreed to add exit signs, lights and panic bars to the secondary doors and to prohibit storage or other obstacles in front of the doors.  County building inspector Neil Trisler wrote a letter June 30 to the state officials, noting the new agreement and withdrawing the request to review the variance.  Meanwhile, Dunn had sought quotes for the addition of a new set of exterior double doors.  The cost exceeded $30,000 with wiring and other related expenses, he said, significantly more that the inspectors had estimated.  “The money isn’t why we didn’t do it,” he said.  “(A capacity of 1,450 is adequate.”  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

  

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