Gary City Hall

Heat wave hits operations at Gary schools and city hall

Contributed By: The 411 News

Classes at Banneker at Marquette Elementary in Gary were stalled again Tuesday, due to issues with the building's air conditioning system. And Gary's City Hall is feeling the heat, too.

Since Sunday, area temperatures have been in the upper 90s.

Banneker students got an early dismissal Monday, followed by a day off Tuesday. The closure came with other actions from the Gary Community School Corp.

All middle school athletics have been canceled for the next two days, with Tuesday's middle school football game in Griffith scratched due to the heat.

"The health and safety of our students and staff remain our utmost concern," the district wrote in a statement. "All high school athletic teams have been instructed to practice indoors with no exceptions."

Air condition is functioning properly in all buildings with the exception of Banneker, the district said. In-person classes for Banneker will be held at the Gary Area Career Center, 1800 E. 35th Ave. on Wednesday, August 28th.

Gary's city council had to cancel several committee meetings this week.

"Due to the projected heat wave tomorrow, we are postponing the Planning & Development committee meeting scheduled for 6pm Tuesday, August 27th. The meeting has been rescheduled to 6pm September 9th," city council legislative assistant Empris Franklin wrote in an email Monday.

The Finance committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday, August 27, 2024 at 5pm was also postponed and rescheduled to 5pm September 9th.

Gary's city hall has air conditioning, but the city council chamber doesn't cool sufficiently when summer temperatures hover around 90 degrees for days in a row. That is why some council meetings have been shifted to The ArtHouse during summer months.

Story Posted:08/27/2024