With temperatures on the Island climbing to 30 C — and beyond — this week, municipalities are setting up cooling stations to help residents keep comfortable. Here’s where to find them.
• Victoria — To help keep residents and visitors cool, 14 misting stations have been set up on fire hydrants across the city. They are operational during daytime hours from Monday to Thursday. The city has online maps available for drinking fountains and misting stations.
• Victoria — The city opened three cooling stations on Wednesday in response to the heat:
- Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, 1925 Blanshard St., open noon to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Friday
- Salvation Army ARC, 525 Johnson St., open 1 to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Friday
- Cook Street Village Activity Centre, 380 Cook St., open noon to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday
• Oak Bay — Drop-in cooling centres are available at the Oak Bay Rec Centre, 1975 Bee St., and Monterey Rec Centre, 1442 Monterey Ave. Both areas are self-managed, available during open hours, and are accessible for people with mobility issues.
• Saanich is recommending visiting one of its four recreation centres to escape the heat. The free areas include air-conditioned libraries at Saanich Commonwealth Place (4636 Elk Lake Dr.) and G.R. Pearkes Rec Centre (3100 Tillicum Rd.), the art galleries and lobby at Cedar Hill Rec Centre (3220 Cedar Hill Rd.) and the lobby at Gordon Head Rec Centre (4100 Lambrick Way). For the ultimate cool off, take a seat inside the the ice arenas at Pearkes.
• Central Saanich — A cooling place is available at the Cultural Centre at the Central Saanich library branch, 1209 Clarke Rd. It’s open from 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Officials are encouraging people to escape the heat, bring a snack and an activity.
• Central Saanich — Central Saanich Fire is turning on the hoses to create a spray park Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Tanner Park on Rodolph Road and noon at Rom Knott Park in Brentwood Bay, and then again on Wednesday and Thursday at Centennial Park on Wallace Drive at 11 a.m.
• Sidney — The town has initiated its heat response plan from Monday through Friday by opening the air-conditioned Shoal Centre, at 1030 Resthaven Dr., as a cooling centre. The town urged residents to take precautions and check on neighbours.
• North Saanich - Wain Road Fire Hall and Jubilee Park have been set up as cooling stations with misters to help combat the heat. The stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the duration of the heat wave.
• West Shore — Check out this handy map of places to cool off in Colwood, Langford and View Royal. It includes lakes, spray parks, fountains and public spots with air conditioning.
• Langford — The Connections Point Church at 103- 737 Goldstream Ave. is open as a cooling centre, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Bring a snack, a game or a craft and take a rest in the cool air.
• Langford — Stay cool this week by visiting a Langford spray park, open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Glen Lake Beach Park at 3076 Shore View Dr.
- Centennial Park at 2805 Carlow Rd.
- Langford Lake Spray Park at 3018 Trillium Rd.
- Veterans Memorial Park at 2830 Aldwynd Rd.
• Metchosin — Keep your cool at cooling centres and misting stations scattered throughout the village core. Air-conditioned space, cold water and health checks will be made available as needed. Hours of operation will be posted.
• Nanaimo — Recreation facilities including the Bowen Park Complex (500 Bowen Rd.), Nanaimo Aquatic Centre (741 Third St.) and Oliver Woods Community Centre (6000 Oliver Rd.) offer air-conditioned lobbies. A misting station will be set up at Maffeo Sutton Park (Comox Road).
• Courtenay — There’s a drop-in cooling centre at Florence Filberg Centre Conference Hall, at 411 Anderton Ave., from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The water park at Lewis Park, next to the Lewis Centre at 489 Old Island Highway, will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Know of other cooling stations? Send us the details at [email protected], with “cooling” in the subject line.
