Civic Center Offices Sizzle After Weekend Cooling Malfunction

The air-conditioning systems in most of Los Angeles County’s Civic Center buildings malfunctioned over the weekend, leaving thousands of employees, jurors and visitors to be greeted by stifling rooms this morning.

Bill Stewart, head of the county’s facilities management department, said that engineers needing to make repairs had turned off the generator that supplies heat and air conditioning for the buildings. When they tried to turn it back on Sunday night, “something blew in the power circuits.”

Hot, stuffy rooms awaited workers and others in the Hall of Administration, Hall of Records and civil and criminal courthouses today. The generator was repaired by mid-morning and temperatures returned to normal about noon.