Elgin Art Showcase keeps lease despite lack of smoke detectors

The Elgin City Council passed up the chance to terminate the city's lease with the Elgin Art Showcase as it continues to wait for life safety work to be completed.

The Art Showcase is located in the Professional Building, 164 Division St., whose owner Ron Cope blew a Jan. 31 deadline to install smoke detectors in all units. The building, which has smoke detectors in all common areas, is currently noncompliant with the city's life safety code.

Councilman Rich Dunne, a former city fire marshal, claimed the city is being “willful and wanton” by not enforcing city code. Its $43,000 or so annual contract for the Art Showcase states it could terminate the lease if the improvements weren't done by Jan. 31.

“If someone were to die in that building, we would be sued. And the cost of those lawsuits highly concerns me,” Dunne said. “No other business that we deal with in the city seems to have that power over us.”

Fire Chief John Fahy says there are no safety concerns because of all the other measures in place in the Professional Building, according to City Manager Sean Stegall.

The delay in the work has been frustrating, but as long as progress is being made, the city will not terminate the lease, Stegall said.

The work to install smoke detectors is delayed because parts are on back-order, he said.

“If progress stops, we would do that. There is a point where we can no longer ignore it,” Stegall said.

The Tort Immunity Act protects municipalities from failure to enforce laws or conduct proper inspections, Corporation Counsel Bill Cogley said. Additionally, he said, the notion of “willful and wanton” doesn't apply to the circumstances in Elgin, he said.

The city filed lawsuits against the Tower Building, which was since condemned, and two other buildings because they made no progress on life safety plans, Cogley said. Work at the Professional Building, however, has moved forward — albeit slowly — over the years.

“I don't think we should let them completely off the hook with this,” Councilwoman Tish Powell said, adding the city could impose fines.

Councilman Terry Gavin said he's not in favor of punitive measures. “This is a perfect example of government partnering with business and trying to work in a flexible way,” he said.

Fahy said he expects the work to be done in about two weeks, or the owners will “answer to us.”

“If we drop the hammer on them and the work stops and they are not in compliance, then we have a much longer road to get it finished. Compliance is the goal,” he said.

Numerous shows have already been booked in February and March, but the city will decline new bookings for shows in April and later, Stegall said.