With new panic bars on exterior doors and a new fire alarm system now working, tenants of the John P. Riggio Building finally protects tenants with ritical safety systems that fire and life safety codes require—but that were never there before.

Riggio Building Code Project Chairman Dennis Hallahan said that tenants of the building were relieved to learn of the fixes. The building’s current tenants include the Westbrook Youth & Family Services agency and the town’s Emergency Management Department.

“The fire alarm system is up and running and has also been tested,” said Hallahan.

Installation of a new fire alarm system and panic bars on the exterior doors were two building fixes that Fire Marshal George Rehberg in an October 2014 code inspection identified as critically important.

Though installation of these upgrades has been slower than Hallahan said he would have liked, he was relieved and pleased that these key tasks are now done.

In addition to these fixes, the October 2014 inspection report and notice of violations also identified other code violations at the Riggio Building that the town needed to address. Most of these would no longer be applicable if a fire sprinkler system were installed.

If quotes to install a system make the task too expensive to justify, the town’s leaders could instead make room-by-room fixes to make the building code-compliant. This laundry list of items would require both carpentry and electrical work to be done in various Riggio building rooms and spaces.

Hallahan said that cost estimates for outside railing repair, power washing, painting, carpentry, electrical work and roof repair are being developed and will be presented to the Board of Selectmen upon completion.

These cost estimates and task options Hallahan said he would present to both the boards of Finance and Selectmen before the end of the month. It will be these boards that will decide the path the town will take to code compliance.