People in Charlotte adjust to limited cooling options amid heat wave

• A heat wave in our mid-Michigan neighborhoods is expected to last through most of the week
• A woman brought her fans to work inside a historic courthouse that has no air conditioning
• Video shows two people adjusting to this week's intense heat

Sherry Copenhaver is used to working without air conditioning at the old courthouse-turned-museum in downtown Charlotte.

During heat waves, Copenhaver brings two fans with her to install in her office. Nearby sit some electric fans, some still working, that are about a century old.

Copenhaver is dealing with the heat just like county officials did generations before her.

"Even though time marches on," Copenhaver said. "The same things happen. It got hot back then and it gets hot now."

But at least the bricks that blanket Eaton County's old courthouse can cover Copenhaver from most of the heat. It's a different yet similar story for a fireworks vendor out of Angola, Indiana.

Casey Brown made the nearly two-hour drive to sell his products in the parking lot next to Advance Auto Parts off Lansing Road in Charlotte. Brown made sure to pack his fan and a cooler with food and drinks.

"Always carry water, ice cold water," Brown said. "Get a cooling towel, something to wrap your neck with. Stay in the shade a lot."

A large tent with the word 'fireworks' shaded Brown for the day while the occasional gust of wind provided a relieving breeze.

Inside the old courthouse, the only breeze comes from Copenhaver's fans. The building wasn't made to maintain an air conditioning system, she said.

Built-in 1885, the courthouse would have to be gutted in order to install such a system, something Copenhaver says is costly and could risk the building's historical status.

"We like our history to stay intact," Copenhaver said.

The building's manager told Fox 47 News that they've never done a cost analysis of installing air conditioning. The building has several radiators meant to emit heat and not cool air. There are no plans to install that system in the future.

"The ceilings are extremely high so that's a lot of air that would have to be cooled," Copenhaver said.

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