Mt. Tabor and the Fire Code - What are the issues?

In April 2010, the County's Fire Prevention officer, along with the building inspector, conducted an inspection of Mount Tabor Community Playhouse and Bredin Hall.  This was part of a county-wide inspection of private and County owned public buildings.  After the initial inspection, a fire prevention engineer was hired and he identified 20 deficiencies in Mount Tabor and Bredin Hall.  The most pressing were: (1) a monitored fire alarm system, (2) Fire doors separating Bredin Hall and the theatre, (3) the front doors had to swing out and be equipped with crash bars, (4) the rows of seats had to be moved to meet the minimum space between rows, (5) the Mummers' storage of props, costumes etc in the balcony and bell tower had to be removed.  Until these items had been fixed, any performance in the theatre required a "fire watch" which entailed hiring three firefighters for each performance. 

The Recreation, Parks & Culture Department diverted money that had been allotted to Mount Tabor in the 2010 budget and supplemented with donations from the Milford Fair Board and the Mummers, took care of the first three items.  The Mummers looked after items 4 and 5.  The fire watch has now been cancelled, which means that there does not have to be firemen present for each performance.  However, there are still fifteen items to be completed.  The Mummers are looking after some of them such as new stage curtains made of flame retardant material.

There are three large items that still have to be completed.  In Bredin Hall, the ceiling has to be covered with fire retardant dry wall as well as the crawl space that houses the furnace.  The front steps have to be rebuilt to accommodate the doors opening out.  The remaining items are relatively small but will still have to be completed by this fall.

TaborFix, a group of concerned community representatives, are raising the funds to make sure the front steps are renovated and assist in some of the other upgrades.

The Recreation, Parks, and Culture Department has asked that County Council allot funds in the new budget to address and complete the needed renovations.  Their decision remains to be seen, but TaborFix is moving forward in raising money.