The property owner of new townhouses to be built on the site where a Cornell University student died in a fire received approval from the City of Ithaca Planning Board Wednesday. Among the changes required: two two-story buildings at 107 Cook Street will house 12 bedrooms, rather than a single three-story structure for 14 occupants.
The planning board also required owner Dan Liguori install central air-conditioning, rather than individual units. Separate air-conditioning units “would be impractical and detract from the building’s design,” reported the Cornell Daily Sun.
However, not required to be installed were fire sprinklers. Although the Ithaca Fire Department said lack of sprinklers in the original student housing contributed to the 2011 fire death of Cornell graduate Brian Lo, a fire department official at last night’s meeting only hoped the builder would “consider installing fire sprinklers voluntarily.”
More details at the Sun.