City Hall AC almost ready for showtime

LYNN – A Boston contractor is putting finishing touches on the $1 million-plus City Hall air conditioning system intended to cool Veterans Memorial Auditorium during concerts and other shows.Community Development Director James Marsh acknowledged the new system failed to provide relief last Thursday for 2,200 sweltering fans of dog whisperer Cesar Millan, but he said city officials expect the system to be fully functional for an August concert by Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo.?We will now be on a level playing field with other Boston-based venues instead of having to come to a screeching halt in June,” Marsh said.Installed on City Hall?s roof and top floor, the air conditioning system, with its shiny metal duct work, copper piping and banks of machinery, is actually two systems designed to supply cool air and pull air back through the air conditioning system.It cools the auditorium by combining fresh air and cold water passing through filters and chilling coils to provide air conditioning. Boston contractor General Air started in March installing the system and insulating duct work installed in City Hall in 1947.Workers used a crane to haul the system?s parts to City Hall?s roof prior to installation. Khalil Jrad, a General Air supervisor, said the system is roughly capable of cooling 80 homes at once.?It?s a medium-sized job for our company,” he said.When it was built 65 years ago, City Hall?s rudimentary air cooling system centered on four giant top-floor fans designed to pull hot summer air out of the building and pull cooler night air into it for distribution through duct systems.The new system uses air defusers to spread cool air evenly around the auditorium while employing sound attenuators to mute the system?s noise during auditorium shows. Filters in the system clean debris from the cooled air.Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].