Several months after a deadly fire raged through the 35-story Marco Polo, a majority of condo owners voted in favor of retrofitting the 35-story building with automated sprinklers.

“The owners have voted for sprinklers in units and hallways,” said Marco Polo condo owner Sam Shenkus. “I haven’t spoken to anyone in the building who said, ‘Oh no, I don’t want sprinklers.’”

The board president of the Association of Apartment Owners of the Marco Polo announced March 29 that 67 percent of the owners voted in favor of the decision, she said.

The July 14 fire, which began in a unit on the 26th floor, caused more than $100 million in damage to the 35-story condo building; four people died; and many still have not been able to move back into the units, Shenkus said.

The McCully high-rise at 2333 Kapiolani Blvd. was not equipped with sprinklers, which Honolulu Fire Department officials say could have saved lives. It was built in 1971, prior to a city requirement in the mid-1970s for all new Oahu condo projects to have a sprinkler system.

News of the move provided little comfort to those who lost loved ones, who were trapped in their apartments during the five-alarm fire, which took four hours to put out.

The three who died that day were Joann Kuwata, 72, who lived in unit 2615; and Britt Reller, 54, and his mother, Melba Jeannine Dilley, 85, in unit 2613. Marilyn Van Gieson, 81, of unit 3216, died Aug. 3 as a result of the fire.

Shenkus, also a board member, said the money to pay for the retrofitting will come out of the association’s reserves, and there will be no special assessment. In other words, condo owners will not be required to come up with the thousands of dollars required to pay for it.

“The vendor is currently undertaking the engineering and other studies needed to build out the system,” said Andrew Fortin, spokesman for Associa Hawaii, Marco Polo’s property management company, in a written statement. “The goal is to install the system as part of the ongoing reconstruction effort. “The board anticipates that the cost of the system can be supported with existing AOAO reserve funds.” Honolulu Fire Department Assistant Chief Socrates Bratakos said he had heard the Marco Polo condo association was “looking at some good prices, more toward the lower end, not those higher numbers that had been bandied around.”

The prices ranged from $8,000 to $22,000 per unit, he said, which would include both retrofitting the units and common areas.

“I know of a couple of buildings that are considering it, but I haven’t heard of any since last year moving forward,” Bratakos said. “I think a lot were waiting for the law, if it were mandated.”

“In my personal opinion, others may follow suit,” he said, while others might choose to upgrade in other ways.

The Honolulu City Council on Wednesday approved a bill that was initially intended to mandate retrofitting older high-rises with sprinkler systems.

Instead, Bill 69, in its amended form, was a compromise that would not require automated sprinkler systems, but does require high-rises to have other safety measures in place and gives incentives to condo associations if they install sprinklers, such as tax credits and fee waivers. The bill still needs to be approved by Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

Jane Sugimura, president of the Hawaii Council of Associations of Apartment Owners, said, “I was opposed to mandatory sprinklers because it would create a hardship for the condo owners.”

Associations like Marco Polo who choose to retrofit have 12 years to do it and still benefit from the incentives under the new law, she pointed out.

With the new law, high-rises must undergo a life safety evaluation — a standard matrix — and, if they pass, could avoid installing sprinklers but may have to make smaller fixes, she said.

Shenkus said the Marco Polo, with 568 residential units and four commercial units, is well managed, well run and has maintained the building, and the association is careful to set aside money for future projects.

“We’re a long ways away,” Shenkus said, pointing out it will take time for the abatement process of hallways to be completed, which involves carpeting, walls and ceilings. She said the work is being done from top to bottom floors, takes weeks and is being done four floors at a time.

Shenkus, who lives on the 31st floor, said she only had soot damage but couldn’t move back for six months. Then she had to move out again from March 2 to April 8 for the hallway abatement.