City: No sprinklers, no service

3 bars shuttered for failure to comply with fire safety law

BOSTON. Three bars were closed yesterday after failing to install sprinkler systems required by a new state law’s deadline.

The Boston Fire Department suspended the occupancy certificates for the Milky Way Lounge in Jamaica Plain, Packy Connors in Roxbury and Kay’s Oasis in Dorchester yesterday. Two other establishments — Sunset Grille in Allston and The Barking Crab on the Waterfront — were also targeted, but will stay open as they make appeals, according to Boston Fire spokesman Steve MacDonald.

The Fire Safety Act of 2004 required that certain venues install sprinklers in three years’ time. Those establishments — including bars, nightclubs, dance halls and discotheques — all had to have a capacity of 100 or more. Those that were deemed only restaurants were not subject to the sprinkler requirement.

The law was created in the aftermath of The Station nightclub fire in Warwick, R.I., where 100 people were killed.

A Fire Department analysis concluded 270 “places of assembly” in the city were applicable to the new sprinkler code, MacDonald said. As of yesterday, more than 100 of those had been granted 30- or 60-day extensions after showing proof they’d hired contractors to complete the work. He said the sprinkler installation costs have ranged from $25,000 to $75,000, depending on the building.

However, Milky Way co-owner Carol Downs said yesterday said her establishment filed a extension request this summer, but never heard back from the Boston Fire Department. Downs said they plan to go to court this morning to file a motion to reopen and get an extension on the work. She said the Milky Way’s lease runs out next August, and they’re negotiating with the landlord on extending the lease.

“We’re happy to invest in sprinklers, but without a lease, it doesn’t make sense,” Downs said by phone yesterday.