Sports Complex facility open for cool-down; LPSO provides fans

Residents looking to beat today’s triple-digit heat can cool off in the multi-purpose room of the Ruston Sports Complex indoor facility.

The air-conditioned space will be open from 10:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

“ We did want to open it up especially for our senior adults and others who may be really suffering from this weather,” Mayor Ronny Walker said in a video posted Tuesday to the city’s Facebook page.

Water is available in the multi-purpose room and people can bring a book or whatever they’d like to do while they cool down.

Though children are welcome, Walker cautioned the cooldown space isn’t childcare.

“If you bring kids, as an adult, you have to stay with them,” he said.

The temperature is forecast to hit 102 degrees today with heat index values as high as 112. The area remains under an excessive heat warning, prompted by the dangerously high heat index.

According to the National Weather Service in Shreveport, afternoon maximum temperatures are expected in most locations through Sunday.

Meantime, the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office still has box fans available for senior residents whose homes aren’t air conditioned. Fans can be picked up at the LPSO, located on Road Camp Road, or by calling the LPSO at 251-5111.

So far this summer, the sheriff’s office has given out approximately 30 fans, Sgt. Iris Winston said.

Fan donations are still being taken, she said.