A heatwave is hitting the Midwest this week with temperatures nearing 100 degrees – and high temperatures pose a serious health risk. Local resources are available for those needing a place to cool down.
Bloomington city pools will be free admission on high heat risk days. Parks & Recreation and Economic & Sustainable Development at the City of Bloomington are teaming up on the offer as part of the “Stay Cool Bloomington” initiative.
“It’s a way to mitigate the impacts of climate change, in this case, extreme heat, in a way using a resource and asset that is already part of our community: the city pools,” said Julie Ramey, the community relations manager for Bloomington Parks & Recreation.
Stay Cool Bloomington days at city pools are determined by the National Weather Service heat risk forecast. Pools will be free on days with a heat risk index of category two or higher.
“That's when at-risk populations start feeling health impacts because of extreme heat, and those people maybe want to spend some time cooling off at the pool,” Ramey said.
Mills Pool and Bryan Park pool are both open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. You can call the aquatics hotline at 812-349-3741 to check the pools’ status. It's also available on the pools’ website.
“Our very first Stay Cool Bloomington day at city pools, we saw about 1,200 visitors to both Bryan Park pool and Mills pool,” Ramey said.
Ramey said admission will be free as long as funding is available. Economic & Sustainable Development committed to funding $55,000.
“We encourage our Bloomington community to take advantage of all of the resources during these extreme heat events, including the free admission to city pools,” Ramey said.
Eight cooling locations in Bloomington and Ellettsville are also open 10 to 6 everyday until June 23. Pets are allowed in carriers or kennels. Food, showers or a place to sleep are not available.
