Power outage closes Cleveland City Hall for Wednesday, delays opening of county offices
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland City Hall and Public Auditorium will be closed Wednesday, and Cuyahoga County offices are delaying opening because of the effects of a power outage caused by a fire at a substation.
“The outage has significantly impacted the HVAC system, making the buildings uncomfortable for staff and visitors,” the city said in a news release. “We are closely monitoring the situation and working with Cleveland Public Power on restoration efforts.”
The city says it will provide an update on the buildings reopening when “safe conditions” are restored. It says non-essential staff will work remotely.
Cleveland Municipal Court will have only arraignment jail hearings Wednesday. All other hearings will be continued.
Cuyahoga County buildings, including the Administrative Headquarters, the Jane Edna Hunter Building, and the Virgil E. Brown building are expected to open at noon, a news release says.
A planned celebration Wednesday of the grand opening of the new Cuyahoga County Board of Elections at the former Plain Dealer building on Superior Avenue has been postponed. A new date will be announced.
County buildings were closed Tuesday because of the power outage. Cleveland Public Power crews spent Tuesday morning working to repair a substation on Lake Road. Officials said it was deactivated about 4 a.m. after its battery overheated, and there was no estimated timeline for when the substation will come back online.
The Justice Center also faced issues from the power outage. Jennifer Ciaccia, a county spokeswoman, said the Cleveland Thermal Plant, which supplies power to the building’s chilled water system, lost its power. That caused the air conditioning system to go down.
Ciaccia, in a statement, said the county “will make adjustments as needed to ensure the safety of all staff and residents.” Temperatures reached the mid-90s Tuesday with high humidity. Overnight temperatures were expected to stay in the low 70s.
The county’s jail, a main part of the Justice Center, housed 1,446 inmates on Tuesday, Ciaccia said.
Shortly before 4 p.m., she said the situation had not changed, and county officials were working to bring in large amounts of water and ice, as well as industrial fans to cool cellblocks.
Because on the heat, the city is extending the hours to 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday at multiple recreation centers to serve as cooling centers.
Pools and spray parks are also open across the city. Indoor and outdoor pools are open from 12 to 7:30 p.m., and spray parks are open until 9 p.m.