JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Shopping at the mall is usually a way to escape the summer heat, but that’s not the case at the Regency Square Mall this week.
The mall’s AC is out, pushing temperatures inside into the 80s.
“As you can see, the sweat is dripping on my face," Iris Lending Library for the Blind Director Julia Neimes said as she spoke with First Coast News. The library is inside the mall.
When Neimes walked into the braille library she runs on Monday, she immediately noticed inside, didn’t feel much cooler than the blasting heat outside.
It’s hit 86 degrees inside, which volunteers felt right away.
“Within 30 minutes to an hour max, they all went home because they could not tolerate the heat," said Neimes.
While the heat drove the volunteers away, the humidity is real concern for Neimes the longer the AC outage goes on.
“These books could become too moist," said Neimes. "The pages could become weak, then the dots become very soft, so therefore they can smash with any pressure at all.”
Neimes says mall management told her it's an issue with the motor, and they’re getting an estimate on the repair, but they don’t know when exactly it’ll be restored.
A/C repair trucks were outside the mall Wednesday, however, the management office wasn’t open.
“We opened the door, and it was like, 'Woof, just heat,'” said Tokyo Sakura Employee Kharyn Phongvilay.
Phongvilay says the Japanese restaurant is giving free drinks to their customers to help cool them off.
She says mall management has provided a few fans while they work to fix the AC, but with a hot grill on, Phongvilay said, “My husband, the cook, Monday we came home, and he was literally squeezing sweat from his shirt."
Management at the Rhythm Factory says it paid to have its own HVAC installed after they felt the mall’s AC go out at least a half dozen times in the nine years they’ve been putting on events at the mall.
Neimes says the books have held up so far, but with humidity around 65%, she’s not sure how much longer they’ll last.
“When they go, they go," said Neimes. "We’re hoping that doesn’t happen."
The library is working on building and moving to a new location just down the street.
They’re hoping to be there by the end of the year, and they’d like to bring the books with them, in tact.