Shade Stations offering vulnerable Philadelphia communities relief from extreme heat

Shade Stations are the coolest places to be this summer

FOX 29s Drew Anderson brings the Shade Stations teams work to light.

PHILADELPHIA, PA. - During a summer heat wave, that has seen record-high temperatures globally, a local initiative is offering relief to the Philadelphia neighborhoods that need it most.

Shade Stations designs and builds shaded planter benches called "shade structures" in front of people’s homes that serve as cooling centers within heat-vulnerable communities.

The project started in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic forced heat refuges, like parks and libraries, to close. Shade Stations was able to build its first shade structure in North Philadelphia’s Hunting Park neighborhood with grant support from the William Penn Foundation.

Drexel Engineering professor Dr. Franco Montalto says after other communities requested shade structures, Shade Stations decided to train and hire local residents to build the structures to offset pandemic-fueled job loss.

"What we tried to do was bring together job creation with creation of block-scale heat-relief structures," Montalto says. "We wanted to develop something that could help people get some relief from the heat, outside in front of their neighborhood."

Philadelphia is the sixth city most heavily impacted by the "urban heat island effect," which describes the way heat absorbed by infrastructure like pavements and buildings that Climate Central Senior Data Analyst Jen Brady says can increase the area’s temperature by up to 12 degrees.

"[Shade Stations] offers communities a way to deal with that heat when it comes, like this weekend, when we see that we need to get away from it," Brady says. "Particularly, if you have more limited resources with air conditioning, available parks, because its really, really important for people to have a way to find some shade because there are serious, serious health impacts."

This summer, Shade Stations is installing over 140 shade structures in neighborhoods at high heat risk across Philadelphia.

One such neighborhood is Kingsessing, where a new shade structure was recently installed outside the home of a community resident named Jennifer who painted it herself.

"It’s very nice to have this right in front of our home, and it was very nice for the gentlemen to build it and deliver it. We’re really appreciative of this," she says.

Philly residents find new ways to stay cool in heatwave

From cooling off in city fountains, to new shade stations in heat-vulnerable neighborhoods, Philadelphians are working to stay cool as heatwave persists.

This year, Shade Stations has expanded into three additional neighborhoods. Montalto believes that beyond the shade they provide in areas that need it most, building shade structures also helps bring communities together.

"I think people have embraced the project because its not only heat relief, it’s also aesthetic improvement, and it’s also creating opportunities for socialization," Montalto says.