Clinton Township Public Library greets 2026 with fire suppression system upgrade

The Clinton Township Public Library will also undergo elevator repairs in 2027.

By BRAD HEINEMAN

Clinton Local

Business hours at the Clinton Township Public Library are back to normal following some holiday closures around Christmas and New Year’s, and into the start of the first full week of January as work on upgrading the library’s fire suppression system took place.

The library was closed for the entire day on Monday, Jan. 5 and had shortened hours on Jan. 6 while repairs to the fire suppression system were being made. By last Wednesday, the library was back to business operating with normal hours.

“The fire sprinkler heads are to be tested every year after 10th year post installation. The way they get tested is they pick five sprinkler heads at random and if one head fails, all heads need to be replaced,” explained CTPL Director Mary Gallup. “The sprinkler heads have not been tested since the building was built in 1990.”

In April 2024, a quote for a sprinkler test was about $5,000 and the cost to replace was around $22,000, Gallup said.

“By the time we were ready to make a decision, the cost for the replacement went up to $29,000. Since the heads had not been tested at all in 35 years, the board opted to skip the test and go straight for the replacement, to get the quote we received, and not risk losing the price of the test had we (likely) failed the test,” she said.

Original quoting said the replacement process would take seven days with the library closed; however, the library board did not want to be closed for that long, Gallup said, “so we opted to close for one day, and open two hours late for the following days until the work was finished.” 

“Fortunately the work took much less time than anticipated and we only had to be fully closed for one day and open late for just one day,” she said.

Fire suppression systems automatically detect and extinguish fires using agents like water, foam or chemical compounds that prevent a fire’s spread, minimize damage and protect assets where standard sprinklers aren’t enough (such as commercial, industrial or specialized areas).

Although there are not legal installation requirements for fire suppression systems, property owners are advised by several fire safety agencies that such systems should be installed in buildings where a sprinkler system may not be the most effective method of fire protection. These can include rooms that contain a large amount of electrical equipment, irreplaceable assets or perishable items that could be susceptible to water damage.

Library elevator will need repairs in 2027

While a 30-year-old elevator, and in great working condition, CTPL’s elevator will need to take on some repairs in the spring of 2027 as a new code will be enacted and it will no longer be up to code, Gallup said.

The cost to get the elevator up to the new code has been quoted around $90,000.

“The upcoming fiscal year (April 1-March 31) budget accommodates this expense, draining out the bulk of the library’s investments,” Gallup said.

The elevator industry, through the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, is aiming for 2027 as the year in which new code requires existing traction elevators to either have a rope gripper installed or modify single plunger assemblies to dual plunger types.