RICHMOND, Ind. – The Richmond Police and Firefighters now share a state-of-the-art education and fitness facility.
And they will share it with neighboring departments as well.
Just 11 months after the groundbreaking ceremony, the new building and the Israeli fire and police training center “Izzy” David Edelman were inaugurated on Wednesday. The building houses classrooms, practice rooms, a fitness room and office space for both departments. There are still detox saunas for firefighters to sweat out carcinogenic toxins after fires.
Groundbreaking:The vision of the training center began 20 years ago with the acquisition of land from RP&L
Fundraising:The Richmond Fire Department is raising funds for the rebuilding of the training ground, detoxification systems
Mission:Mother “overwhelmed” after training center for son who died in fire
“This is now a shining gem in East Central Indiana,” said Mike Britt, Richmond Police Chief. “We intend to move that forward. We have the opportunity here to do any kind of training you can think of.”
That is the plan. The vision began in the 1990s when land was acquired by Richmond Power & Light, and Richmond Fire Chief Jerry Purcell focused on that vision again after becoming chief in 2014.
In the expansion phase II of the training area in 1740 S, training props, including a K-9 course for RPD, were installed throughout. Eighth St. Purcell hadn’t even completed the presentation of the new building, which is in Phase III, before looking into the future of the training area.
“We still have a lot to build,” said Purcell, indicating that the tower will be built higher and the cramped space will be expanded to include a grain bin. “I have experts in all disciplines, and I need training equipment for each discipline. And that is our goal. “
The facility is named after Izzy Edelman, who was 19 years old when he died in a dorm fire at Indiana University in Bloomington. His mother, Debra Edelman, was the guest of honor on Wednesday, helping to unveil a memorial with the center’s name on one side and listing Richmond police and firefighters who died on duty on the other.
“If there is no order, there is no country,” she told the crowd on Wednesday. “The police ensure order and fire the protection. That is the order of our country, so we have one.
“It is an incredible honor for me to have named this facility after my son.”
John Meredith was a Richmond firefighter in 1984 when Izzy Edelman died in Bloomington. He said the death hit everyone who served at RFD at the time, but was particularly affected because Izzy was a friend of Meredith’s younger sister, Emily, and was a frequent visitor to Meredith’s house.
“If Izzy was in the house, you knew because he had a presence,” Meredith said. “He was always so polite, friendly and sociable. You just couldn’t help but love the guy. “
Edelman, Meredith, Irene Clevenger, Bruce Upchurch and Wayne Township Trustee Susan Isaacs were thanked as donors who made the new building possible.
“Lots of people worked on it,” said Purcell, people everywhere recognize that as a training department, we lead and care about our people. “
Mayor Dave Snow thanked current and past first responders, but also paid tribute to those who will serve the city. The training center, he said, is a commitment to their service.
“It’s a place where challenges are posed, worked on and mastered, where the dream of service is reinforced and realized through training, and where skills are further honed and sharpened as rookies become veterans and trainers of their departments,” said Snow . “This special place becomes a cornerstone in the careers of many.”
Tom Hanify, president of the Indiana Professional Firefighters Union, said investing in education is now a national priority for Governor Eric Holcomb. Hanify said the vision is to have every professional firefighter and volunteer firefighter from a facility like Richmond’s within 45 minutes.
The podium Hanify spoke of was near the Richmond Fire and Police Memorial, which lists five RPD officers and five RFD members who have died on duty.
“This building, this facility, is about not putting names on this wall,” said Hanify.
The facility is a long way from 1984. Purcell was called to the RFD that year, and the department’s only training prop burned down. It was not replaced.
“This facility will be an important component in the training of the Wayne County’s first responders – police and fire departments,” Purcell said. “Joint training to ensure familiarity, collaboration and cohesion, which leads to safe and efficient use in emergency locations.”
Britt said there had been a wedge between fire brigade and police in the past. Not only will the new facility enable emergency responders to build stronger bodies and vastly improve their knowledge, it will also foster the enduring unity that has evolved during the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. A possible future joint police and fire brigade headquarters would bring the departments closer together.
“Our environment now and the last year and a half, two years that we have been through together with the younger generation of emergency services workers have, in my opinion, torn this barrier down,” said Britt and hopefully one day a joint police and fire brigade headquarters will probably be these two departments bring them closer together than ever before and experience the cohesion and benefits of training. “
RPD officials will likely use the facility daily and around the clock as the fitness area at police headquarters runs out, Britt said.
He admitted that he hadn’t seen the building come into being when Purcell first showed him diagrams and drawings a few years ago.
“We are blessed to have this,” he said. “The sky is the limit here.”