The final push is being made to construct the new Safety Town. City and School officials have been discussing the future of the new and improved Safety Town program for North Royalton children for several years. It’s an offering that has been made available to children for many years through the work of the North Royalton School District and the North Royalton Police and Fire Departments.
The Safety Town program may have been started as far back as the 1970’s and has been a staple to many children. It was originally housed at Valley Vista Elementary School. The program has been averaging about 175-200 kids each year for the last ten years. In 2015, Safety Town was moved to the North Royalton Middle School and remained there until 2020. It was then moved to Royal View and then to the new elementary building.
“It started with the support of the city and Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz, School Board Superintendent Mike Laub and the North Royalton City Schools,” stated North Royalton Fire Chief, Bob Chegan. “Our goal is to build a new Safety Town Facility to support the educational component of our yearly program. This is a huge undertaking, and we are in the preliminary stages.” Chegan said that the North Royalton Safety Town that has been in place has never had actual buildings, just paintings on asphalt. Other communities, such as Brecksville and Independence have constructed actual buildings. Chegan met with Broadview Heights officials to get some ideas that could be incorporated into the new North Royalton Safety Town.
“We now have the design in place to construct it at the old Royal View School location,” according to Chegan. “We will include some preliminary drawings. With the help of past fund-raising efforts (especially with the help from the NR Browns Backers and Niko’s who raised over $13,000 in the past few years) we established a good start to the project. Our current fundraise is through the North Royalton Browns Backers and Niko’s. They are raffling off a Bourbon Barrel. We will share more information about the raffle later this week, as tickets can be purchased at Niko’s, Fire Station #1, or through Chief Chegan. Drawing will be held on Super Bowl Sunday.”
As with any type of project, funding is paramount to bring the plan into fruition. Chegan notes that monetary and service-related donations are being sought. He is also looking for building sponsors, which will show a picture of the business or logo on the side of each structure; concrete, electrical, fencing and landscaping supplies or services. Anyone interested in helping should contact Chegan at rchegan@northroyalton.org or 440-759-8421.
Chegan is hopefully targeting June to this project, based on costs, donations and sponsors. Phase 1 of the project will provide the foundation, including concrete, landscaping and electrical. Phase 2 will include the construction of the buildings. He estimates the cost to be between $50,000 and $75,000. Donations can be made through the North Royalton Finance Department and should be made out to: North Royalton Safety Town.
By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer