ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After weeks without air conditioning, tenants at Cottonwood Mall say soaring indoor temperatures are driving away customers and draining their revenue.
The northwest Albuquerque mall has been grappling with a broken HVAC system since at least June, and while the mall has reopened after a brief closure, business owners say conditions inside are far from comfortable.
“It’s cooler outside right now than it is inside our facility,” said Sara Heffern, executive director of Watermelon Mountain Ranch, a no-kill animal rescue that operates an adoption center inside the mall. “We can’t safely house any of our dogs at the mall right now.”…