“With the expected heat index for Sunday nearing 110 degrees, I have made arrangements to have the Spring Street Recreation Center open … to serve as a shelter for those without the necessary facilities to keep them cool,” city manager Brian Muenger said in an email to city officials. “As this most recent heat wave has claimed numerous lives around the nation, I believe it is necessary for the city to offer citizens assistance in this regard.”
The pool area was open from 1 to 7 p.m., and there were no fees for use of it or other recreation facilities.
Muenger said Monday that things “went really well Sunday. We had people coming in back and forth, but I’d say there were probably about 85 total, and maybe 60 to 70 of them took advantage of the pool. We had to bring in some extra lifeguards.”
Muenger said that “a lot of the people that came out Sunday were not registered members, so we’re hoping this will be a way to attract some more. Most of them were teenagers and young people. Not as many elderly people as I would have expected, but still, on such short notice, I would have to say this was a success.”
He said the council will discuss a policy to automatically open recreation centers under certain conditions, such as extreme heat.
In other heat related news, the Talladega County Judicial Building on East Street was closed Friday and Monday after the air conditioning went out and could not be repaired over the weekend. It was not clear Monday if the building would reopen before the Independence Day holiday on Wednesday.
Contact Chris Norwood at cnorwood@dailyhome.com.
