Centre feels the heat with air-con failure

Shoppers and retailers were feeling the heat at Geraldton's Stirling Central shopping centre today.

Air-conditioning at the centre remained broken while temperatures in Geraldton soared to 41 degrees on one of the city’s busiest shopping days.

Centre management told retailers this morning it could not be fixed until next Tuesday.

The air-conditioner’s cooling tower broke sometime last Friday night and new parts needed to be sourced from Perth.

Spokesman for Vicinity Centres, Brandon Phillips, said the company apologised for the equipment failure and had ordered the part for repair.

“It was ordered as soon as we were made aware of the failure, but with the Australia Day holiday and having to order parts from Perth it’s taken a little while,” he said.

“We’re getting it fixed as soon as we can.”

Some retailers reported a drop in customers as the interior temperature reached as high as 36 degrees today.

In order to beat the heat, retailers resorted to turning off lights and other non-essential electronic devices, and bringing in standing fans.

Thursday is traditionally one of the busiest trading days in Geraldton, with late night shopping.