The Bayview Senior Center is offering a cool place to escape record temperatures expected through Friday, said Rosemary Leahy, center director.

Thanks to the Island County Department of Emergency Services and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, two huge air conditioning units from the Naval base were set up at the senior center on Tuesday, she said.

“We’ve just become a cooling center,” Leahy said Tuesday. “It’s critical that seniors try to avoid the heat, since many of them don’t like to drink a lot of water.”

She said the center is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at 14594 Highway 525, across from the Bayview shopping center.

Leahy said the center has a number of fans set up throughout the building, besides the huge machines on loan.

She said emergency services officials are also working on a cooling solution for the annual Summerfest senior picnic Thursday at M Bar C Ranch in Freeland.

Temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees in some areas of Puget Sound today and Thursday, forecasters say.

“Come in a cool off,” Leahy said. “And have a meal.”