By KEIOSHA SPARKS

Staff Writer 

Niagara Safety Village is getting by, despite the damage done over the weekend.

The non-profit organization that teaches young children about traffic and fire safety as well as  life-saving skills, is located on the Welland Campus. It is still holding sessions but some of the equipment is off-limits for the children.

Sometime between noon Saturday and 3:30 a.m. Sunday, 21 out of 24 village buildings were vandalized. In addition, more than half the windows on the school bus were smashed; a decommissioned ambulance had its tires slashed and windows broken. The ambulance and the bus will need to be replaced. The damages total more than $20,000.

Police are asking the public to come forward with any information.

With no security cameras in the rear of the building, it will be a challenge to pinpoint the person(s) responsible.

But the Executive Director of the Niagara Safety Village is not sure cameras would be useful.

“Having cameras in the back will only pick up after the fact,” says Shirley Cordiner.   “If cameras are installed, they will be placed on top of the buildings and will only catch the top of the heads.”

Cameras are being installed anyway. Niagara College security is working with Children’s Safety Village to set-up the technology, so that this kind of crime will not happen again.

All the buildings in the village have insurance coverage. The damages will be repaired before the classes begin in spring, Cordiner says. Classes are scheduled to open for the younger grades from March to June.