Take a quick look at the building's history and how it's been redesigned as one of the centerpieces of a downtown Montgomery revitalization effort. Brad Harper
After a years-long renovation, the historic Kress building in downtown Montgomery was weeks away from debuting its striking new retail space at a holiday market. People had already moved into the loft apartments on the upper floors.
That's when an early morning call went out to the Montgomery Fire Department.
According to the MFD and the building’s management, the Nov. 14 fire started after a fourth-floor tenant went to bed with a fire burning in an outside pit — a pit that was forbidden in the lease agreement. Embers ignited the wood on the balcony.
Kress on Dexter development director Zac Gibbs said firefighters arrived at the building 4 minutes and 22 seconds after the fire alarm sounded. The fire was quickly contained. If it had gotten out of control it could have threatened that building as well as the neighboring ones, some of which are going through their own elaborate makeovers.
Gibbs credited the MFD and the Kress building’s suppression systems, which were installed during the renovation. “Safety was a top priority as plans to rehabilitate the historic structure took shape,” Gibbs said.
The wave of redevelopment sweeping down Dexter Avenue sometimes seems to be moving at a snail’s pace. It’s become common for individual projects to take years between announcement and completion, and wider progress feels even slower.
Part of that process is geared toward fire safety.
“Due to these buildings being older and them being renovated, they have to be brought up to code,” said Capt. Bo Milem of MFD inspections. “Contractors may have to put a little bit more money into these older buildings to put a sprinkler system and fire alarms in them. Sometimes it takes some time.”
That process starts with zoning and review of an architect’s plans, then inspectors do multiple site visits during the renovation process to make sure everything is on schedule and being built according to plan. No one can occupy the building until a final sign-off by inspectors.
Fire codes have changed a lot over the years, in part because of what happened in downtown Montgomery 50 years ago.
More: Dale's Penthouse fire: 50 years later
On Feb. 7, 1967, a fire broke out on the 11th-story restaurant in downtown Montgomery known as Dale’s Penthouse. It killed 25 people, and others escaped with a death-defying crawl along a rooftop ledge.
The tragedy made headlines across the nation and led to sweeping changes in building codes. Among other things, it ushered in a different way for building stairwell doors and created a mandate for high-rises to have multiple exits.
Milem concedes that there’s no way to completely eliminate the possibility of another tragedy like the one that happened at Dale’s — “anything can happen.” But he said the modern code enforcement and inspection process makes it much more unlikely.
Even if it does sometimes slow down development.
“We aren’t always looked at as (a building owner’s) favorite person, but we all do it for a reason. And that’s to save lives,” Milem said.