Noah's Ark's main air conditioning fails, with a replacement going in Monday

Noah's Ark Animal Shelter's main air conditioning failed during a stretch of 100-degree heat, leaving most of its building on North Weaver Street with no way to cool down for several days. The shelter said Monday that a replacement unit was being installed that afternoon, and that it hoped to be back to normal Tuesday. A GvilleTX reporter who went to the shelter earlier Monday found a notice taped to the front door saying the main unit was still out and that the part needed to fix it had been ordered.

In two posts on its Facebook page, the shelter said the parts it needs are not readily available and have to be ordered. It said it expects to be without the main unit for at least several days. In the later post, the shelter said the compressor and additional components need to be replaced, and called it a very large and unexpected expense.

The replacement

The shelter announced Monday that the replacement is going in that afternoon, calling it good news after several days without the main unit. It said it would not be readily available during the middle of the afternoon while the work was done, and that the building was still hot in the meantime.

If the installation goes as planned, the shelter said, it hopes to be "back up and running like normal" on Tuesday.

That would put the repair a little ahead of what the notice on the door had suggested. When a GvilleTX reporter visited Monday afternoon, the notice said only that the part had been ordered and that the shelter expected the fix once it arrived this week.

The timing still leaves the shelter without its main unit through the hottest part of Monday. The extreme heat warning for Cooke County runs through Tuesday evening.

The shelter thanked the community for donations, shares, suggestions and other help over the past several days, and said it is still accepting donations toward the cost. It has not published a repair figure.

The shelter said all of its animals are safe. According to the posts, the animals were moved into areas of the building that are cooled by separate units. The rest of the building has reached almost 90 degrees, the shelter said, with no way to cool it overnight.

Outside, the heat is a matter of record. The National Weather Service station at Gainesville Municipal Airport recorded daily highs between 100 and 108 degrees from Aug. 18 through Aug. 24. On Monday afternoon, the Weather Service office in Fort Worth issued an extreme heat warning for Cooke County and much of North Texas, in effect through Tuesday evening, with values up to 111 degrees.

The notice on the door sets out what that means for anyone trying to visit. Until the repair is finished, the shelter says it will not be readily available in the middle of the day. Staff keep coming in to care for the animals, and the notice repeats that every animal is safe and being kept in the cooled areas. Callers are asked to leave a voicemail, which staff return once they are back at the shelter. The posted hours remain 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Thursdays and Sundays, but anyone planning a visit this week should call first.

The notice on the shelter door

The notice taped to the front door on Monday afternoon.

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The shelter also apologized for calls it has missed. It asked people to leave a voicemail or send email instead.

In its second post, the shelter said the breakdown points to a longer-running problem. It said its current units struggle to cool a building of that size through a Texas summer, and that when one main unit goes down, the others cannot keep up. The shelter said it has started looking into what a larger commercial system would require, and that it will share options and costs when it has them.

The shelter's cooling equipment

The shelter's condenser units, caged against the building's south wall.

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The shelter has been raising money toward a new building. The Gainesville Daily Register reported in February that Noah's Ark hopes to build a new facility at a cost of about $1.5 million to $2 million. In July, City Manager Barry Sullivan used a council meeting to explain the city's relationship with the shelter, after discussion of a possible new site.

No repair cost or fundraising goal has been announced. The shelter now expects to be back to normal Tuesday, after saying earlier in the week only that it expected the fix once the part arrived. The account of what failed, and of what it will take to put right, comes from the shelter itself.

How to reach the shelter

Noah's Ark Animal Shelter is at 2501 N. Weaver St. in Gainesville. Its posted hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Thursdays and Sundays; those hours may not hold while the repair is pending.

• Phone: 940-665-9800
• Email: [email protected]
• Donate: noahsarktx.com/donate
• Adoption application: noahsarktx.com/application-form

Sources