By Bob Bumcrot

Shortly after Memorial Day, work is expected to begin on replacing the slate sidewalks on the Green with Georgia granite.

A contract to install a new sidewalk along the Town Green has been awarded to Pilbin-Jones of Norfolk. According to First Selectman Susan Dyer, the amount allocated for the installation is about $38,000. This is part of the total $110,000 cost of the project. Of this, $90,000 will be paid by a STEAP (Small Town Economic Assistance Program) grant from the State, and $20,000 by a contribution from the Norfolk Community Association.

That the new sidewalk will be wider than the present one is clear from a glance at the cut stone, which has been stored next to Town Hall for some months. The slate slabs in the current sidewalks are three feet six inches wide and one inch think with lengths varying from 18 inches to three feet. The new granite slabs are all four feet wide with lengths of four, five and six feet. Of the approximately 220 slabs, half are four inches thick and will be placed on the west (Route 272) side of the Green. The others are two inches thick and will go on the east side.

Many of the slate slabs in the current walk are cracked or broken, but a good many, especially on the east side, are reusable. The fate of these stones is not determined at the present time. “The Town owns them,” said Dyer. “We may have uses for at least some of them.” It has been suggested that some of these be used to pave the two gravel crosswalks on the Green.