Highland offers a few places to help residents escape the dangerous heat

As the heat rises, cooling centers are opening up in the metro-east, including Highland.

The Weinheimer Community Center will be available as a cooling center until July 28, and city manager Chris Conrad said whenever the county opens their cooling centers, the city will follow suit. Announcements will be made online via Highland’s social media and the Highland Happenings informational app.

The metro-east is currently under a heat advisory through 9 p.m. Friday, with heat index measured up to 109 degrees, according to the St. Louis County Office of Emergency Management. The entire region is subject to high temperatures and humidity that may cause heat-related illnesses.

The Weinheimer Community Center is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. If there are needs after 5 p.m., residents are asked to call the center at 618-654-6071 or Highland’s public safety building at 618-654-2131. After hours cooling time may be offered.

Meanwhile, the Highland public pool is closed for the week during the Madison County Fair, which was recently questioned on social media.

“Fair week always sees a substantial drop in users for the outdoor pool and we lose quite a bit of money staffing it for so few users during that week,” Conrad said. “So we closed it and avoided both the cost and the issues that come up with the fair being an ongoing concern and trying to get people in and out of there.”

The Madison County Fair began Tuesday and runs through Sunday at the county fairgrounds, which are adjacent to the Highland pool off Park Hill Drive.

In addition to the Weinheimer Center, the following cooling centers are open in surrounding communities:

• Breese Public Library, 530 N. Third St. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10-6 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

• Tri-Township Public Library, 209 S. Main St. in Troy. 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

• YMCA of Edwardsville (Niebur and Meyer centers), 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

• Glen Carbon Senior Community Center, 157 N. Main St., 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday.

• Glen Carbon Centennial Library, 198 S. Main St., 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

• Edwardsville Public Library, 112 S. Kansas St. 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

• Lebanon Public Library, 314 W. St. Louis St., noon-7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, noon-5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Check out the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services website for a complete list on both sides of the river.