Another city-owned building is plagued by a failing heating, ventilation and air conditioning system: This time it’s City Hall.
The Jackson City Council handled formalities during its Nov. 8 meeting for the portable chiller that Ashby Foote, who represents Ward 1 and serves as president of the council, said had been in place for about three weeks.
The council authorized an emergency rental contract with Universal Services to place a portable chiller in the parking lot that is located west of City Hall. One or more components of the existing HVAC system at City Hall have failed.
“How long before we have it permanently repaired at City Hall?” asked Kenneth Stokes, who represents Ward 3.
“The lead time to get the permanent unit is quite some time,” replied Jackson Mayor Choke Antar Lumumba. “It’s a distribution chain issue.”
Stokes asked if it’s time for a new City Hall to replace the current one that dates to 1846, but didn’t really get an answer. “Some years ago, when Kane Ditto was the mayor, they had a discussion with the city and county about building a new building,” he said.
The chiller cost $23,300 to rent the first month plus a one-time freight charge of $3,500 and $6,800 for installation. After that, the monthly charge is $13,000.
The mayor invoked an emergency procurement process due to “the risk to human health and inefficiencies caused by employees having to leave work early because of temperatures inside City Hall.”
The Mississippi Arts Center at 201 E. Pascagoula Street lacked air conditioning for a year before a new system could be installed in the city-owned building. Supply chain issues were part of the reason for the delay.
After a new air conditioning system was installed in the Arts Center, the building was freezing cold for some tenants and warm for others and the Public Works Department has had to order a boiler and controls for the system.
The Eudora Welty Library in downtown Jackson, which is owned by the city of Jackson, is also plagued by HVAC issues. It closed for 48 days earlier this year because it was too hot inside to use the building.
Foote has said numerous times that the city needs to better maintain the buildings it owns rather than consider purchasing news ones to replace them.
