Sprinklers are often a bad idea for historic buildings and are definitely not
the only means of fire prevention.  Putting sprinklers everywhere is a
simplistic method formulated and supported by the sprinkler industry.

There was a plan by whatever agency it was at the time responsible for
homeless shelters in NYC to sprinkler the entire 7th Regiment Armory on Park
Avenue.  There was a small homeless shelter on the 4th floor, and the fire
department was just asking for an alternate means of egress.  The agency's
answer was to install sprinklers in the whole building, at a cost of a $1 to
2 million.  This would include the incomparable, very decorated 19th century
rooms on the 1st and 2nd floors.  Tell me that running pipes (that will leak
and burst) and installing sprinkler heads in a coffered and gilded Tiffany
ceiling is a thoughtful method of fire protection.  Fortunately, concerned
preservationists stalled the project by invoking preservation bureaucracy at
the state level while getting the interior designated a landmark, and the
interiors were saved.

Mary Dierickx