In light of subzero temperatures expected to arrive in central Maine early next week, a daytime warming center will be open in the Augusta Civic Center at 76 Community Drive.

The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, according to Haley Gauvin, Augusta’s director of communications and marketing.

Signs outside the Civic Center will direct people to the Penobscot Room on the first floor where the warming center is located.

Anyone with questions about the warming center or who may have transportation needs is asked to contact the Augusta Police Department’s nonemergency line at 207-626-2370, extension 0.

City officials urge residents to take precautions during the period of extreme cold, and to stay warm and safe, Gauvin said Saturday in a news release.

While Waterville’s warming center at 46 Front St. is not scheduled to open, Waterville fire Chief Jason Frost said that could change, depending on information received from the National Weather Service and Kennebec County Emergency Management Agency.

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Frost said just after 5 p.m. Saturday that the city gets updated emails from the National Weather Service all the time, and the city’s warming center policy says it opens when the wind chill advisory reaches minus 20 to 29 for an extended period of time, usually 24 to 48 hours, or any time the wind chill warning is minus 20 degrees or below.

He said his department stays in touch with the police department and Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter on Colby Street and, during the days of the cold period, there is not expected to be any wind, and night temperatures are predicted to be between 1 and 5 degrees. He said there are very few people outside during the day, and at night, people have been going to the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter, which also is a warming center.

Carla Caron, director of the Waterville Area Soup Kitchen at 38 College Ave., said the soup kitchen will be open until 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday during the cold period.

 

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