FORTVILLE — The new Vernon Township Fire Department station in Fortville will have a Safe Haven baby box — a location where parents can surrender their newborns safely, anonymously and without fear of prosecutor.
Crews broke ground recently, kickstarting the station’s construction, and township leaders acknowledged their plans to build a drop box into the side of the new building.
The boxes — there are currently three in use in the state — are padded and climate-controlled, and will sound an alarm to notify public safety officials if it has been used, according to The Associated Press. They can only be placed at buildings that are manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Though Vernon Township has a volunteer fire department, its partnership with Priority Ambulance Service (formerly Seals Ambulance Service) will ensure its new fire station is staffed constantly, said township trustee Jim Nolte.
That’s a change from the department’s current location — a 10-bay garage at the back of the Fortville Municipal Building, which the township uses for its Fortville fire station.
But midway through 2016, the Fortville Town Council informed Vernon Township officials of their plans to stop renting out the 10-bay garage in its municipal building, saying Fortville would soon need the space for town offices.
Vernon Township went to the drawing board to find a new location for its volunteer fire department, crafting several plans before landing on its final, late last year — pulling $1.6 million from its savings accounts to purchase 10.7 acres of land at 600 Vitality Drive in Fortville, as well as an 8,700-square-foot building that sits on the same bit of property.
The new fire department location, complete with living space for its firefighters, will be constructed on the empty plot of land. The existing building will be converted into office space for the department’s chief, fire marshal, the trustee and other township officials, Nolte said.
Adding the baby box amounts for about $5,600 of the overall $3.28 million construction and remodeling project, Nolte said. Working the box into the original construction plans offers a bit of a cost savings as installing one in an existing building can cost as much as $11,000, he said.
Nolte has been in contact with the founder of the nonprofit group Safe Haven Baby Boxes — Monica Kelsey, who was abandoned as an infant — which works to aid at-risk mothers and encourage communities to offer baby boxes as resources.
He said he believes the baby box will be an important addition to the community, given the alternative could mean a child being abused or neglected.
Eventually, the station will be constantly staffed by firefighters, too, Nolte said.
When firefighters move into the new building in the spring, they will still be part of a volunteer fire department; but growth in the township — which encompasses Fortville and the booming McCordsville area — will likely force the department to transition to either a paid-on-call or full-time staffing model, he said.