Rotary Children’s Safety Village
2000
The Rotary Children’s Safety Village is a specialty designed 10,000 sq. ft. facility for teaching children about everyday safety concerns. The complex contains three Classrooms for lectures and lessons offered by local Police and Fire Department officials, a Multi-Purpose Room, a Conference room and Offices for the Rotary Club of Windsor (1918) administrative requirements. The creation of a home like setting in a part of the building includes Kitchen, Living Room and Bedroom areas which are used to teach children real life safety strategies while experiencing a smoking house on fire made with hidden artificial smoke machines.
Behind the classroom building on the site is a children’s scaled village of miniature real life community sponsored buildings with a road system complete with traffic lights, street lights, and road signs erected to provide the ability for the children to drive small electric cars around its miniature streets while learning about traffic laws and safety practices. The Village creates this interactive environment designed to provide Kindergarten to Grade 5 students with hands-on safety training in a field-trip experience. The Rotary Children’s Safety Village’s main building and series of miniature buildings are designed as a townscape, complete with an outer road circuit with connecting roads crossing through the middle. As many as 20,000 children visit annually to practice safety strategies while walking in groups and riding cars or bikes throughout the Village.
Safety scenarios, as well as the street experience, puppet shows, and classroom study, include the simulated house fire with smoke filled rooms leading the students to climb out of a second story window to safety down a ladder to a padded simulated garden area with wall murals by local artists. This educational facility provides children with the knowledge and skills in a safe controlled environment intended to help prevent injuries and/or loss of life. The facility is fully accessible to all children including children with special needs.