by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
Could there be a more perfect name for a system meant to reinforce the principles of historic preservation than one that sounds as though it’s from the future?
The Matrix Program, a new fire code safety initiative that allocates points for safety features in old buildings, is immersed in an inspection of its own to see if safety regulators, who can be held liable for dangerous buildings, and building owners who have invested their life savings and years of sweat equity into 100-year-old buildings, can reach an agreement on the numbers.
About 18 months ago, City Council member Suzanne Jenkins, who watched as developers agonized over how to bring historic buildings to present day standards at an affordable cost, decided that there must be a way to make old buildings safe while still preserving the character that makes them worthy of preservation in the first place.
“It was a contradiction,” said Jenkins. “City Council was clamoring to preserve historic buildings, but making it impossible for them to gain approval for safety.”
Jenkins and others, including historic preservation guru Joel McEachin, looked around, hoping to find creative ways to bring historic buildings up to code.
They didn’t have to look past Tampa.
There is a general standard — the International Building Code — that fire departments and building inspectors all over the world use to measure safety. In Tampa, community leaders adopted one chapter from that code — the one that said fire officials may consider alternative methods — and incorporated it into their city code.
“We called people all over the country and eventually found out that Tampa had an historic building code pretty similar to ours and had sought to figure out a compromise,” said Jenkins. “The idea was for a little give and take.”
What Tampa and other cities across the nation were doing was instituting a point system for safety features. With this new standard, called the Matrix, architects could design ways around the normal, rigid standards that traditionally meant the difference between a building being approved for safety or not. With the new system, for example, installing something like a fire sprinkler system might make up for a building only having one exit.
“We thought, ‘This is it,’ ’’ said Jenkins. “Without compromising public safety, we can all work together to figure out ways to get historic buildings approved.”
The Council passed legislation in March approving the Matrix.
Jacksonville Fire Department District Chief Anthony Roseberry, who works in fire prevention, has been a part of the Matrix discussions since its inception. According to Roseberry, the Matrix is an ideal solution to the previous conflicts between building owners and fire safety regulators.
Roseberry said the Matrix calls for an architect or design specialist to be involved in the conversation from the beginning. That way, features to enhance safety can be designed around the individual character of each building. The whole idea of the Matrix, after all, is that there is more than one way to skin a cat — or get a cat safely out of a burning building.
“The beautiful thing about the Matrix is that you know from the beginning where you stand,” said Roseberry. “Once everybody sits down and talks, a certain amount of points are assigned for everything and if they add up then you’re in good shape.”
And that’s where things get tricky.
Before the Matrix, buildings that didn’t pass code could appeal to the Building Code Adjustment Board, a collection of architects, developers, fire marshals and building experts, who could engineer new ways for buildings to comply.
The Matrix, however, was supposed to change that. The idea was for a system that was simpler — if builders and owners knew how to get points, then they would do it, and everybody would be happy. No more late night meetings and convoluted arguments.
A few weeks ago, Tina Musico and Bob Eagle, who own the Inn at Oak Street in Riverside, became the first candidates to test the Matrix program.
“We have created safety features in every other category except for vertical elevation, but right now we’re not conforming to the Matrix,” said Eagle, who has been renovating the 1902 mansion into a bed and breakfast for over two years. “We were told that if you do these other things, then you’ll pass — but that’s not true.”
Enclosing the stairwells of an historic mansion, both Eagle and Jenkins agree, defeats the whole purpose of preserving historic homes.
“These stairwells are grand,” said Eagle. “To enclose them would ruin the whole aesthetic of the home.”
The other safety element the Inn at Oak Street doesn’t have is an HVAC system, something Eagle said is too cost prohibitive and doesn’t even make sense for a home of that size.
Eagle and Musico installed a sprinkler system and have plans for an additional exit in case anything happens to the exposed stairwells during a fire. But currently, the numbers for the Matrix don’t add up.
“In retrospect, I wish we hadn’t used the Matrix,” said Eagle. “Even though the whole point was to gain approval for places like ours.”
Eagle said they’ll have the support of the fire marshal and several Council members when the Inn appeals to the Building Code Adjustment Board on Aug. 8 — which goes back to an allegedly subjective system that the Matrix was supposed to circumvent.
“I’m confused because the whole point was that places like the Inn at Oak Street wouldn’t have to go before that board,” said Jenkins, who hoped that the next step would be to sit down with all the parties involved and try to figure out the best way to make the project work.
Jim Shock who works for the City’s Building Department, said the Matrix was supposed to help builders know what they were getting into before they started tearing down walls.
“It’s to avoid what the lawyers would call unbridled discretion,” said Shock. “It’s only fair to have public codes that give people an idea of what kind of money they’re going to have to spend.”
Everyone seems to agree that the kinks need to get worked out because the Matrix is supposed to be a pioneer in improving code enforcement statewide.
McEachin said that it’s only natural that there would be a tweaking process.
“One size is probably not going to fit all,” he said.
Robert Rubens, who chairs the Building Code Adjustment Board, said in situations like this, he does his best to help historic buildings meet code.
“I wouldn’t want it on my conscious for someone to lose life or limb,” he said. “But we can usually tell if a building is safe or not and work with people on that.”