Alice Collinsworth
EDMOND — Children dream of having their own small-scale houses in which to play and learn, and that dream soon will become a reality near the Edmond Fire Administration Building at 5300 E. Covell Road.
The Edmond City Council recently approved the building of a 1.6-acre Children’s Safety Village, and Fire Chief Gil Harryman said the bid process soon will be under way. The Planning Commission gave site plan approval in June.
The training village will be the only one of its type in Oklahoma, Harryman said, with the closest similar facility in Frisco, Texas.
“The Children’s Safety Village is a place where children can learn about safety in a hands-on way,” said Maj. Kelly Lewis. “It’s based on the Risk Watch curriculum, developed by the National Fire Protection Association.”
The five-eighths-scale village will include several types of buildings and roadways, providing officials an opportunity to teach children about bicycle safety, poison prevention, water safety, fall prevention, fire and burn prevention, motor vehicle safety, choking and suffocation hazards and firearms safety.
“We’re real excited about it,” Harryman said. “Public safety education is one of our core missions here in Edmond.”
Lewis said the idea was proposed by Maj. Mike Fitzgerald, who visited a Children’s Safety Village when he was young. Harryman said the Edmond project has been “on the drawing board” since 2000.
“The entire project will be paid for by the Fire Department with funds that are already in place,” Lewis said. Funding is provided through the Fire Limited Public Safety Sales Tax, voted into place in December 2000.
The center building, which will house the small-scale city hall and police and fire departments, will allow access to restrooms and storage areas. The other buildings, including a schoolhouse, homes, an electrical substation and other structures, will not be accessible.
“During the school year we will have classrooms coming from all the schools — public, private and home schools,” Lewis said. “During the summer, we’ll have special events, and we’ll possibly host a fall festival and holiday activities.”
Lewis said adults sometimes question the necessity of teaching accident prevention to children.
“They say, ‘Aren’t injuries an inevitable part of growing up?’” he said. “Yes, bumps and bruises are inevitable, but serious injuries are preventable.
“With education and motivation, we can teach children to be safer, and hopefully save lives.”
Harryman said construction should be finished by summer 2008.
acollinsworth@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 117
Log on to www.edmondok.com, click on “public safety” and then on “fire.” Scroll down to “Children’s Safety Village” for a video presentation of the planned facility.
