PHOENIX — The Phoenix City Council approved Wednesday allocating funds to run an overnight cooling center at Burton Barr Library as the city prepares for another hot summer.
More than $1.3 million in funding was authorized by the council for Community Bridges, Inc. to run overnight heat relief centers at the downtown library and the senior center near 7th Avenue and Buckeye Road.
The expanded services would include professional case management help and dedicated security staff at each facility when the overnight centers are in operation between May 1 to Sept. 30, records show.
The funding will also provide additional services at cooling centers operating within Cholla, Harmon and Yucca libraries.
City officials noticed last summer that the Phoenix Fire Department was getting the most heat-related 911 calls at times when the region's cooling centers were closing.
Maricopa County has offered multiple safe places where residents can seek refuge from the scorching sun in previous summers. But those cooling stations often have limited hours of operation, which isn't helpful for residents living in a city that experienced record-setting heat last year.
About half of the 645 heat-related deaths reported in Maricopa County last year occurred in Phoenix zip codes.
RELATED: Report: 2023 was the deadliest year for heat in the Valley, 700% more deaths from a decade ago
More information on the city's services for staying safe from the heat can be found here.
*Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast.*
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What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.