A Canberra resident who attended the Jessica Mauboy concert at the AIS Arena last Saturday night complained to the Australian Sports Commission about why the air-conditioning had not been turned on.
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Turns out there is no air-conditioning at the venue.
It was a hot day, the temperature at the airport reaching 40 degrees but cooling to 24.9 degrees by 9pm.
Our correspondent said her nine-year-old daughter started fading early in the concert due to the hot conditions but refused to leave, such is her love for Mauboy.
‘‘I would hate to think Jessica Mauboy thought Canberra audiences didn’t think her performance was fantastic, as she was outstanding. We were just unable to respond due to the heat in the venue,’’ she wrote.
A response from the commission agreed that ‘‘the conditions were hot and sticky for patrons at the venue and note that extra water was made available for patrons at the first aid station’’.
‘‘Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, this venue is not air-conditioned," the response read.
‘‘The arena does have a heating and ventilation system, which is effective under most Canberra conditions. In cooling mode we run large volumes of outside air through the venue but the indoor air temperature will reflect the outdoor air temperature once it reaches about 25 deg C. When ambient outside temperature is above 28 deg C, as it was that evening, comfort levels deteriorate rapidly.’’
After a week of heat-wave conditions, the venue managers were ‘‘closely’’ monitoring the temperature at floor level to ensure safe conditions for the concert patrons. The concourse doors were opened at 8.45pm.
‘‘A long standing objective is to air-condition the venue and technical reviews have been conducted to establish its viability and cost. However, implementation is subject to cost benefit and subsequent funding,’’ the response read.
