— Officials with the city of Athens and downtown revitalization group Spirit of Athens believe historic buildings on the city Square could be prime locations for loft apartments.

On Oct. 20, Chris Chain, a loft apartment developer and preservationist from Columbus, Miss., spoke at a public meeting about the Square’s housing potential. He said there was little doubt that Athens could build downtown lofts that would attract a variety of potential residents, and having people living downtown could help local businesses.

“If you build them, they will come,” he said at the meeting.

There are questions, however, about the safety of residents living in buildings that have stood for a century or longer, and what kind of measures would be in place to protect tenants.

Barry Davis with the city’s Building Inspection Department said any developer who has an interest in building loft apartments will have to abide by city building codes and rules established by the 2009 International Building Code. One of the requirements set forth is the use of sprinkler systems.

“(The apartment space) is going to be a shell and they’ll be starting from scratch, so it will have to meet those codes,” Davis said, adding that any developer or contractor would be required to obtain a license to work in Athens. “Our inspections would be ongoing. They’d get a permit, we’d do intermittent inspections and a final inspection at the end.”

Athens Fire Marshal Tony Kirk said the requirement of the sprinkler systems in the lofts would make them “extremely safe” to live in, though he couldn’t speak for the structural safety of the buildings.

“Someone with structural engineering (experience) would need to take a look at that aspect of it,” he said.

Though not all apartment buildings in Athens have sprinkler systems, city code requires that if an apartment building undergoes any key changes, a sprinkler system must be installed to bring it up to code. Kirk said the apartment fires that have occurred in the city over the last year occurred in older buildings that did not have sprinkler systems.

In 2008, the U.S. Fire Administration took the position that all residential dwellings should have both smoke alarms and automatic sprinkler systems.

Developers who may be interested in building loft apartments downtown could expect to ante up big bucks on not just the development costs, but on the sprinkler systems. Chain said a developer can expect to pay about $3 per foot for a system.

Kirk said while that cost may seem exorbitant, the rules for sprinkler systems in a residence and business are different. Codes require that business systems use metal piping, while residential systems can rely on less expensive plastic pipes to supply water to sprinkler heads.

When asked if the water pressure running to downtown buildings would be high enough to support additional sprinkler systems, Kirk had little doubt the sprinklers would perform as necessary.

“There were improvements made about 10 years ago, and our water system has adequate pressure to supply any sprinkler system,” he said, adding that Steelcase and Athens-Limestone Hospital did install booster pumps to ensure increased water pressure for sprinkler systems.

Those in support of loft developments also point out the close proximity of the fire station just off the corner of Hobbs and Marion streets, enabling a quick response time for any potential fires on the Square. However, that station will be relocating in early 2012 to a new location at Washington and Hine streets.

“We would then be four or five blocks away, so we’d still be pretty close (to the Square),” Kirk said.