Roselle moves forward with Safety Town

Though it's far from being funded, Roselle village officials gave the Safety Town project their blessing.

After viewing design plans, a village board majority Monday earmarked $155,000 to build a miniature city designed to provide hands-on safety education for children at the Maple Avenue parking lot, west of Irving Park Road. But the entire project is estimated to cost more than $533,000 and the village will have to raise money to fund the rest of it.

"I'm very much in favor," Trustee Sam Tornatore said. "I think the concept puts Roselle on the map."

Plans for Safety Town call for a miniature city featuring miniature sidewalks, roadways, traffic control devices and a number of buildings like a village hall, police department, library, train station and others. Instead of cars, children will use bicycles to drive through the town. A life-size classroom on the premises, featuring bathrooms and a kitchenette, could be used for educational presentations as well as storage.

But not everyone thinks it's a great idea. After the village board hired an engineer in May, it received some complaints from residents. People were concerned about loss of parking in the commuter parking lot, security and whether it's a good use of taxpayer money. Village Trustee Barbara Hochstadt agreed with them. She still opposes the project.

"It's a great plan but it's the wrong location," she said Monday. "We shouldn't be doing it. I don't see it being successful. I think we're going to regret it."

Hochstadt, the only trustee to vote against using the money for Safety Town, said that the location is a prime piece of real estate that should be used for other purposes. She also believes that the project is too expensive.

"I don't have the votes to stop this," she said. "But this is an astronomical price tag for a little town like Roselle."

Police Chief Jim Kruger outlined an aggressive marketing campaign for the village board that includes soliciting pledges and donations from private individuals and business leaders. The board then approved forming a community advisory committee that will be in charge of raising the money. If all goes according to plan, Safety Town could be up and running by 2009.