Norris opens its new downtown sidewalk for first day of school
Norris opened its new concrete sidewalk on the square in front of the Norris Lions Club Pavilion and Norris Middle School in time for the first day of the 2026-27 school year on Monday morning. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Stretching across the front of the middle school, the sidewalk will accommodate children walking to and from school, as well as people coming onto the Square for numerous events throughout the year.
Barriers were removed Friday to give pedestrians access to the new sidewalk, but work remains to be done in the area where the old asphalt sidewalk was removed, City Manager Bailey Whited.
Temporary orange fencing still kept the old sidewalk area blocked off on Monday, and Whited said the city is still considering what to do with the space. It may be too much in the shade to allow grass to grow properly, he said.
The Norris Farmers Market has begun setting up across the street on Wednesday afternoons, after losing the space where the asphalt sidewalk was removed.
The city paid about $4,800 extra to have an extension of the new sidewalk paved up to the Norris Lions Pavilion.
“That money was not in the sidewalk budget, so we paid for that out of our operating budget,” Whited said. “People have been asking for a sidewalk to the pavilion, which until now was just grass.”
During the last City Council meeting, held July 13, the council voted to award a $33,077 contract to Clinton-based Tri-Star Contracting of East Tennessee for construction of the new sidewalk.
The job description did not include removing the old sidewalk, which was done completely by the city’s Public Works Department.
Norris had been considering what to do about the deteriorating asphalt sidewalk for about 14 years, and for part of that time even had a state “Safe Routes to Schools” grant available to help pay for the replacement.
Bureaucratic restrictions led the City Council to relinquish the grant last year and proceed on its own to come up with a plan and funding for the new sidewalk.
City officials were concerned about the safety of the asphalt sidewalk, as roots from trees between the sidewalk and the street caused upheavals in the surface over a long period, causing it to be uneven and broken in several areas.
The new sidewalk is about eight feet closer to Norris Middle School than the old one, a move that required the city to get an easement from the Anderson County Board of Education to move the sidewalk onto school property.
Most of Norris’ downtown events take place along the sidewalk and in the pavilion.
