Neighbors chip in to replace aging sidewalks
New sidewalks have been installed on Seminary St. in Greencastle following a neighborhood agreement.
The sidewalk project began once Paul Wright, house director at the Alpha Tau Omega independently began curb replacement. Once neighbors Dave Murray and Neal Abraham saw this they began a campaign of their own.
"After we talked with Paul Wright, we were inspired," said Abraham. "We first went to all our neighbors to ask them if they would be willing to chip in to fix the sidewalks in front of their homes."
What must be noted is that this sidewalk improvement came at no cost to the taxpayers.
Mayor Sue Murray said, "There was no money used from the city or from grants on this project. It was all privately funded by the residents along the street as well as St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Alpha Tau Omega and Delta Tau Delta fraternities, Alpha Chi Omega sorority and DePauw University."
According to Abraham, the total cost of the project was over $20,000. Joe Spiker Excavating, Inc. was the company who put in all the new curbing along the street. Spiker's currently have signs outside of the Pi Beta Phi sorority on the south side of the street. Abraham believes this is a part of the same project but couldn't be certain.
The project spans two blocks on a stretch of East Seminary Street between Bloomington Street and Locust Street. The neighbors involved include Dave and Sue Murray, Nafhat and Nadia Nasr, Neal Abraham and Donna Wiley and Steve and Janet Hendershot.
"It's pretty exciting that DePauw, St. Andrews Episcopal Church, two fraternities and two sororities as well as the private homeowner neighbors got together to fund this project without needing any funding from the city," said Abraham.
At least one method of cost-saving was employed in this project. There were some sections of the sidewalk that did not require a full replacement. Instead, those sections were just repaired.