Rialto opening its cooling center ahead of five-day heat wave

One program special to the city of Rialto is its Rialto Cooling Center, which is available to all city residents.

As the region prepares to head into a five-day, over 100-degree heat wave on Friday, September 4, Rialto’s community services department has been busy preparing to keep residents cool.

“The Rialto Cooling Center provides an opportunity for the Rialto public to escape the heat and relax in one of our chilled city buildings,” said Sean Grayson, interim community services director.

The building that is currently hosting the program is the Carl Johnson Community Center, which is located at 214 N. Palm Avenue.

“We operate cooling centers on a year-round basis, in response to the temperature. Anytime temperatures reach 95 degrees or higher we make the cooling center available,” continued Grayson. “As many of you already know, it can be hot in Southern California, even throughout the fall and even around Christmas time, so we determine our cooling center operations based off 95-degree temperature or higher.”

When operating, Rialto’s cooling center is open from noon to 6 p.m. and there is no time limit.

Recently, the center implemented COVID-19 safety measures into the program, to ensure the safety of all visitors.

“With COVID-19 going around, we have changed the operations to meet CDC guidelines by requiring visitors to wear a mask, the center is set up in a way that social distancing is ensured, and temperatures are taken at the door, just as it is at any city building,” Grayson said.

If a visitor does not have a mask on, the center will provide one, free of charge.

“The public is always welcome to call us. We have bottled waters for anyone who visits the cooling center and restrooms are available for use. Please refer to yourrialto.com for information,” concluded Grayson. For more information, call 909-877-9706.