City Hall catches a cold.

Byline: Aaron Nicodemus

WORCESTER - As the season's first snow fell yesterday, City Hall was a cold place to be.

The building's 112-year-old boiler "experienced unanticipated challenges to (its) operation," according to a memo City Manager Michael V. O'Brien wrote to City Hall employees.

The boiler has been off since last winter, according to Christina Andreoli, a member of Mr. O'Brien's staff.

"It's a process to start up the boiler," Ms. Andreoli said in an e-mail. The boiler cannot simply be turned on and off, she said.

"Seasonal maintenance work begins in early October with a timeline of turning on the heat by mid- to late-October, depending on the weather and/or temperature," she wrote. "Clearly, the winter began a little early here in Central Mass., with our first official snowfall today (or last night, depending on where you were)."

Even though the temperature outside was in the high 30s yesterday, inside City Hall it was cool, but not frigid.

Several City Hall employees had on sweaters, but none in public view was wearing coats, mittens or hats. You could not see your breath inside the building, and there was no frost visible inside the windows.

Ms. Andreoli said that work on the boiler will continue through the weekend, and the "expectation is the heat will be turned on by early next week."