In case of fire, DeKalb firemen will make it to Lincoln Hall a little quicker this fall.

NIU project manager Conrad Miller said a new fire alarm system is being installed in Lincoln Hall this summer.

The new Upgrade Fire Alarm System is needed to comply with Illinois Public Act 83-719, Miller said.

Lincoln’s old alarm system was not as efficient as the one being put in, he said.

The system is being installed by Ballard Electrical Contractors in Rockford at a cost of $260,000, Miller said.

One residence hall alarm system can be upgraded per year because the system is expensive and there are not enough contractors to do it all at once, he said.

The system must be installed during the summer because nobody can spend a night without fire alarms, Miller said.

The Lincoln Hall project, which began over two weeks ago, will be completed before Aug. 21, he said.

“We can’t put people in the building until the new system is in,” Miller said.

In the eight-phase project, Lincoln Hall is the fifth residence hall to have the system replaced, he said.

The alarm system already has been replaced in Gilbert Hall, Douglas Hall, Stevenson North and Stevenson South, Miller said.

In the summer of 1992 the system in Grant North will be replaced and the system in Grant South will be replaced in the summer of 1993, he said. Neptune Hall will be the final residence hall to receive an upgraded system.

Miller said there are no plans to upgrade the fire alarms in Married Student Housing because that system is more modern and already complies with state law.