{"id":296538,"date":"2026-07-15T13:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/296538\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T13:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:23:11","slug":"manhattan-school-gets-fire-sprinklers-through-community-effort-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/296538\/","title":{"rendered":"Manhattan School Gets Fire Sprinklers Through Community Effort \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-xb1qmn-0 gBIiEi body-paragraph\">St. Joseph Catholic School in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shawlocal.com\/tags\/manhattan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Manhattan<\/a> converted a storage garage into a classroom space this year and, in the process, became a case study in how local ordinance, community leadership, and industry generosity can work together to protect a building and its occupants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-xb1qmn-0 gBIiEi body-paragraph\">The project required fire sprinklers. A 2012 Manhattan ordinance mandates automatic sprinkler systems in any new commercial construction or change of occupancy, regardless of size. When the school began planning its renovation, the village and Manhattan Fire Protection District made compliance a priority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-xb1qmn-0 gBIiEi body-paragraph\">\u201cThe ordinance is the reason this project happened,\u201d Fire Marshal Dave Kolosh of the Manhattan Fire Protection District said in a news release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-xb1qmn-0 gBIiEi body-paragraph\">But the ordinance alone did not build the system. RAM Fire Protection donated the labor for installation. The Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board paid for the materials. The Village and fire district coordinated with the school throughout the planning to ensure the work met local fire protection standards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-xb1qmn-0 gBIiEi body-paragraph\">\u201cThe Village worked collaboratively and went above and beyond to accommodate the school\u2019s project,\u201d said Mayor Mike Adieansen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-xb1qmn-0 gBIiEi body-paragraph\">Kolosh emphasized why the investment mattered. Fires spread fast, often faster than people can evacuate. Sprinklers activate immediately, controlling the fire before it spreads, buying time for occupants to get out.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fire Marshal Dave Kolosh, Manhattan Fire Protection District, points out the fire sprinkler system riser, located in a small storage closet in the classroom. The riser supplies water to the building&#x2019;s automatic fire sprinkler system.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shawlocal.com\/resizer\/Fb1Yp-xWTjfYxLEFkNMZYKv354o=\/1440x0\/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/shawmedia\/7B32EWJMARHXJMJFLUMYK6LIZ4.jpeg\" width=\"1440\" height=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ImageMetadata__MetadataParagraph-sc-1gn0vty-0 ijEZZk image-metadata\">Fire Marshal Dave Kolosh, Manhattan Fire Protection District, points out the fire sprinkler system riser, located in a small storage closet in the classroom. The riser supplies water to the building\u2019s automatic fire sprinkler system. (Photo Provided By \u00a0Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board\/Lisa Woodward)<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-xb1qmn-0 gBIiEi body-paragraph\">The system also protects fire crews and limits property damage, outcomes that benefit the broader community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-xb1qmn-0 gBIiEi body-paragraph\">\u201cAs a small village, it was especially meaningful to see everyone come together to support a school that has been part of Manhattan for over 100 years,\u201d said Mayor Mike Adrieansen. \u201cI hope residents see that the village and the fire district genuinely care about the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A completed classroom at St. Joseph Catholic School, converted from a storage garage, is now protected with an automatic fire sprinkler system.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/I7S52JLXWJGZLMSYKLYJTUAME4.jpeg\" width=\"1440\" height=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ImageMetadata__MetadataParagraph-sc-1gn0vty-0 ijEZZk image-metadata\">A completed classroom at St. Joseph Catholic School, converted from a storage garage, is now protected with an automatic fire sprinkler system. (Photo Provided By Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board\/Lisa Woodward)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St. Joseph Catholic School in Manhattan converted a storage garage into a classroom space this year and, in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[111930,46427,8458,267,75,84,83,9,24,12,63,7627],"class_list":["post-296538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-grundy-county-front-headlines","tag-kankakee","tag-kankakee-county-front-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-will-county-front-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}