JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Businesses in the Regency Square Mall will finally get a break from the heat.
City leaders say the air conditioning will be repaired Monday.
It’s not the first summer some Regency Mall businesses have dealt with the AC going out, but they’re hoping it’s the last before the mall is sold.
“One person came in and said this is uninhabitable," said Iris Lending Library Executive Director Julia Neimes.
Neimes spent the month of July worried about what humidity inside the Regency Square Mall would do to the braille books in the Iris Lending Library.
At the end of last week, she finally got some good news – a crew is coming Monday to get the AC back on.
“It’ll be great to have the volunteers coming back," said Neimes, who mentioned the heat was preventing volunteer groups from helping to bind new books.
A spokesperson with Mayor Donna Deegan’s Office says Regency was cited six times in July for the air conditioning outage – at $130 each time.
However, City Councilman Ken Amaro says the code enforcement fines against the mall have pushed over a million dollars.
Owners of the Rhythm Factory say the air conditioning is a frequent issue in the summertime, so much so, that they took matters into their own hands to prevent any weddings from happening with no AC.
“Over the nine years, it has gone out at least six times," said Executive Director Michael Butler. "The type of business we operate, it would be unacceptable to not have AC in the Florida sun, so we installed our own AC so we’re self-contained so it doesn’t really affect us when it goes in and out.”
Neimes is hoping the restored air conditioning will keep the braille books in good condition while they work on building their own facility.
“It’s always, like, July," said Neimes. "That’s the hottest month of the year. Hopefully, we don’t have to endure that again.”
Amaro says management told him the repair should be a one-day fix.
All this AC drama has happened while the mall is in a pending sale.
The buyer says he hopes to close early next year and could tear down the mall for residential, entertainment and retail space.