Stony Brook University students may have noticed a new addition to the Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library: almost every fire alarm is now adorned with an “out of service” sign.

The signs will remain up while a new fire alarm system is  installed, a process that has been going on since last semester. According to James La Piano,  the library building manager, the old alarms still work and would activate if a fire were to occur in the library.

The fire marshal ordered the signs to be put up during a recent inspection. “The old system is old and obsolete, and we were having lots of problems with it,” La Piano said, adding that the new system will be upgraded from the old bells to a strobe light and P.A. system. New smoke detectors can be seen in the building with a plastic cover.

“The alarms were original to the building,” said Louis Rispoli, the Executive director of Campus Planning, Design and Construction. Rispoli said the installation would cost approximately $1.5 million, including design and construction.

The money was given to the school from the state capital plan as part of the New York State budget. A few floors, including the basement and first floor, have already had the new system installed, but the installation will not be considered complete. The signs will not come down – until the system is implemented and tested in the entire library.

When the system will be completed is unclear. The installation was delayed when the team ran out of parts that took six weeks to be shipped.

Once all the parts are in place, testing must be completed. La Piano said the installation and testing should be completed during the summer, while Rispoli said the installation should be completed in the next two to four weeks, with testing to be contucted shortly after.

“I always see them working on it. I know they’re trying to put something new in,” said Julian Cordero, a senior math major who works in the library SINC site.

Some students have only noticed the “out of service” signs and believe the fire alarms are not in working order. “I think there need to be more that aren’t marked, ‘not in use,’” said Kate Simonetti, a senior music major.  It makes me think, ‘Do they not have any that work?’”