Hotel To Open Doors After Brush With City Over Fire Sprinklers Fire, Building Codes Differ, Causing Owners To Lose Sleep
The new AmeriTel Inn should open today, after a fire code wrangle delayed the project and almost resulted in a lawsuit.
The $3 million, 118-room hotel was scheduled to open June 2. But the city denied its owners an occupancy permit. When an attorney for the Boise-based chain threatened a suit, the city granted the company a temporary occupancy permit.
“Apparently things have worked out,” said AmeriTel’s attorney, Jim Jones. “There was a dispute over some of the building code requirements. It was primarily the sprinkler system.”
The problem, city attorney Jeff Jones said, was that the uniform fire code and uniform building code have different requirements for fire-extinguishing sprinkler systems.
The inn’s attic sprinkler complied with one set of codes, but not necessarily the other.
In the end, AmeriTel may not have to make any changes. “One thing we’re in agreement on is that it’s not a life-safety issue,” Jeff Jones said.
Fire Inspector Rich Kirsch said he couldn’t comment on the matter.
AmeriTel’s vice president in Boise said he isn’t worried about the hang-up, but questioned the city’s efficiency.
“There’s just a miscommunication between different departments of the city,” Brad Charles said.
Hotel staff spent Tuesday getting ready for the big day, making beds and setting up televisions. AmeriTel management in Coeur d’Alene was reluctant to talk about the dispute, now that the inn has been given a temporary go-ahead.
“We just want to open our hotel,” said Scott Ableman, AmeriTel’s vice president of finance.
The inn - at U.S. Highway 95 and Ironwood Drive, next door to Wild Waters - is the AmeriTel chain’s newest. The building has four floors, a large indoor pool and looks a little like a miniature Coeur d’Alene Resort, complete with copper roof.
Aimed at business travelers, the Coeur d’Alene spot will be the company’s first in a market heavily dependent on tourism.
A typical room will go for about $100, general manager J. Kendall Bird said.
The company, owned by Glen and Peggy Black, operates hotels in Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls and Elko, Nev.
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