Norris seeks bids for sidewalk project
Norris is seeking bids for a contractor to build a new sidewalk just to the right of this one on the Norris Commons in front of Norris Middle School. The current one, which serves a lot of functions including the weekly Norris Farmers Market during the growing season (shown here), is distressed and has long been targeted for removal. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
The council has been considering and debating what to do about the deteriorating sidewalk for the past 12 years, and for several years even had a $100,000 state grant available to help pay for their rehabilitation.
But too many bureaucratic restrictions and requirements – which council members said were changed frequently over the years – led the council to relinquish the grant and proceed on its own to come up with a plan and funding for rehabilitation of the sidewalk.
Middle school Principal Rob Cummings and Anderson County Board of Education member Dail Cantrell both told the council in mid-2025 that the school board would grant the easement.
But they stopped short of offering to school board funds to help pay the cost of the sidewalk replacement, which Mayor Chris Mitchell said would be “under $100,000.”
Norris officials want to remove the existing sidewalk, and build a new one next to it, closer to the school, to get it away from the trees that line the area between the current sidewalk and the roadway.
Roots from those trees have caused much of the damage to the existing sidewalk, causing it to be uneven and broken in several areas.
But because the land the city wants to build the new sidewalk on is part of school property, the city could not legally build a sidewalk there without getting the easement from the school system.
Besides serving children walking to and from the school, the asphalt sidewalk is used frequently by downtown visitors taking part in the numerous city activities held in the Commons area and the nearby Norris Lions Club Pavilion, and by customers of the Norris Farmers Market, whose vendors set up along the sidewalk.
Bid specifications may be picked up at the Norris Community Building, 20 Chestnut Drive, or online at cityofnorris.com/bids.
The city said it would receive sealed bids at the Norris Community Building, 20 Chestnut Drive, or by mail at P.O. Box 1090, Norris, TN 37828.
