After one month of construction, a new cooling station has officially opened in Penticton.
The facility, located next to Penticton City Hall inside Gyro Park, features misters, solar lights, and an accessible walkway.
Its construction kicked off in mid-July and was made possible in part due to a $173,000 grant from the Union of BC Municipalities' Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation funding stream.
City spokesperson Anna Melnick confirmed the facility is now open for public use, but noted landscaping work and other finishing touches to the project will continue through the fall.
According to the city, each mister at the facility will be triggered by an activation button, set on a timer. A nearby water fill station, located in front of the station and by the Main Street sidewalk, is also now open.
Some of the other $173,000 the city received in climate-related grant funding went toward a temporary misting station at its "Quench Buggy," and a water bottle fill station trailer, which has recently been seen moving around to parks and events, including last week's Penticton Peach Festival.
