Sprinkler work reveals pricey surprise
Staff writer
When the city of Hillsboro agreed in August to transfer a portion of the old Hillsboro hospital to Tabor College for use as a COVID-19 isolation center, no one was expecting to discover the building needed $35,182 worth of work that should have been done years ago.
The agreement between the city and Tabor was to transfer one end of the Salem Home building formerly used as the community hospital.
Under the terms of the agreement, the city would pay the costs of making the property functional, including servicing and recharging a fire sprinkler system.
The surprise came in when the sprinkler system was recharged. The portion of the building once used as a hospital with a nursing home at the other end still had a common sprinkler system in areas that had been the kitchen and laundry.
“Salem Home has asked us to fix that,” mayor Lou Thurston said. “We’re sitting here with a big number. I feel like it’s going to be problematic, but I also feel like when we say we’re going to do something, we should do it.”
Councilmen will review the cost of the work again Nov. 17.