City inspectors have had an initial meeting with owners of city day-care centers and plan another this week – to see that the centers are in compliance with building codes.

On the surface, the call for facilities that house child-care centers to have a sprinkler system capable of dousing a fire from every angle seems logical, even necessary, center directors say. They agree exit doors that could allow children to escape a fire, or any other emergency, are a good idea – in theory.

&#8220We’re concerned about safety,” said Lovie Bailey, owner of Lovie’s Day Care Center on Wisconsin Avenue. &#8220But if I had to do all that, I’d have to close down.”

&#8220All that” is the costly upgrades of physical operations.

At the heart of the quandary for 32 owners like Bailey is the difference between the city’s Institutional Use classification and its Educational classification.

A day care with more than five children younger than 2 1/2 would be classified Institutional by the city, prompting the need to be &#8220fully sprinklered,” as a short explanation spelled out by the city’s director of buildings and inspections, Victor Gray-Lewis.

Day-care operators meeting with city inspectors last week were told they could install a door at the rear of each classroom and become classified Educational, but all who manage them fear the cost of either option.

Mayor Laurence Leyens referred questions on the topic to Gray-Lewis, inspections director from 2002 to 2005 who rejoined the department in January after a three-month stint in the private sector. He did not specify why the city was pursuing the tougher regulations.

&#8220I’d rather speak as a group,” he said, alluding to a second meeting his department plans to hold with day care operators Thursday at department offices on South Street.

Gray-Lewis described his first conversation with local day care owners as one with &#8220good communication.”

&#8220Nothing is definitive,” Gray-Lewis said. &#8220The issues go beyond economic.”

For older buildings such as Good Shepherd Community Center on Cherry Street, which dates to 1939 as a Works Progress Administration project that housed Cherry Street Elementary, the task of cutting doors into concrete block walls and through wooden window sills used for displaying class materials seems impractical.

&#8220I don’t know what it would cost. But we’re seeking some middle ground here,” said the Rev. Tommy Miller, Good Shepherd’s director.

&#8220I understand what Victor is trying to do,” Miller said. &#8220But we couldn’t continue to operate.”

Good Shepherd is a United Way agency and is funded by Methodist church funds and grants. But the day care is funded by a sliding scale with parents paying according to income.

Even church-based day cares fully supported by generous member donations, like the one maintained by Hawkins United Methodist Church on Halls Ferry Road, find the city’s attempt at bringing them up to code onerous.

&#8220Being an electrician, I understand codes,” said Sonny Jones, chairman of the board of trustees at Hawkins. Jones said Gray-Lewis indicated the city is trying to make uniform all codes to resemble International Building Code standards.

But, he added, installing either a sprinkler system or doors into each classroom there would &#8220be a big expense and pose security risks” because of extras that would come with it, such as sidewalks and lighting.

The preschool there is housed in the portion of the building that dates to the 1960s, with the half that spans out from the main church part of a $1.6 million expansion completed seven years ago. Even though an upgrade is planned to the older part of the building, Jones said it would be about three years before the church could afford to bring the preschool up to the standards the city wants.

Individual parts to commercial sprinkler systems can be costly, depending on the type, shape, spray direction and other factors. Higher-end parts retail up to $55.

Entire systems can run $50,000, Bailey said, higher than the $35,000 paid for the center’s current system 15 years ago when Lovie’s opened.

Other parts of what the city is asking of the owners to maintain valid privilege licenses are multi-station smoke detectors, stove hood systems and grease traps for cooking and emergency lighting. Costs there likely exceed $15,000.

&#8220I’ve been inspected for years and I know I’m OK,” Bailey said.

The Mississippi Department of Health issues licenses to day cares statewide and conducts inspections yearly for operators to renew them. Licensing fees are based on enrollment, ranging from $50 for those with 12 or fewer children up to $200 for those with 76 or more children.

The department lists 38 licensed in Warren County, with 32 of them within city limits. The six operating outside city limits are not affected because Warren County has no building inspection code or zoning ordinance.

Vicksburg Fire Department inspects city businesses for working smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, feasible evacuation routes and exit doors. Only now have those doors been asked to be in each individual classroom.

Bailey said her center was inspected by a state health official Wednesday and passed.

&#8220It the fire department passes you, and the state passes you, you ought to be OK,” Bailey said.