Plans to construct a Children’s Safety Village at the Saugeen Conservation Authority Headquarters is one step closer to becoming a reality.
The committee for the Children’s Safety Village project has now received charity status.
So the group will soon hire an engineering consultant firm and begin fundraising.
Vice President of the Safety Village Al Leach expects the project to cost between 1.5 and 1.75 million dollars.
Leach hopes to raise about half of this amount locally — and hopes the remaining amount being covered through various government grants.
Leach doesn’t expect it to be a hard sell saying many are eager to support the cause.
The miniature Childrens Safety Village will feature small scale buildings, road ways, traffic lights and other such scenarios that will be used to teach children important safety lessons.
This will be the first rural children’s safety village in the province and will include an emphasis on farm and water safety.
There are about 10 other safety villages in larger, urban centres in Ontario.
The interactive safety village will target 10 thousand children a year across Grey and Bruce Counties from kindergarten to grade six.
The actual program will be delivered by police officers and firefighters at no cost to the Safety Village and the program will be offered free to the school boards.
Officials hope to have the safety village complete by September 2011.
It will be constructed on five acres of land at the Saugeen Conservation Headquarters in West Grey just south of Hanover.