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FRANKLIN —
Ray Hamblin and John Nepote have been at it again, volunteering their skills and labor to spruce up Franklin.
This time they’re replacing a damaged section of the historic Franklin Sidewalk, located directly across the street from the Miners Hall Museum.
“We wanted to get the sidewalk in shape prior to the arrival of “The Way We Worked,” the Smithsonian traveling exhibit scheduled in May at the museum,” said Phyllis Bitner. “All I had to do was mention it.”
Constructed in 1936 with federal funding assistance, the sidewalk begins at the south edge of Arma and stretches south 1.7 miles to the south edge of Franklin. It has become known as the longest sidewalk connecting two communities, and is listed on both the National and Kansas Registers of Historic Places.
Hamblin said that this particular section of sidewalk had been badly damaged by heavy equipment during the clean-up after Franklin was devastated by a tornado in May 2003.
“We had do dig out all the broken concrete,” he said. “We’re replacing the sections exactly like they were, six feet long, three feet wide and 4 1/2 inches thick.”
Hamblin added that they are antiquing the surface so the sidewalk won’t look new and out-of-place.
“We want the top to look like it’s been worn over the years,” he said. “We’re using a wet piece of carpet and when it gets to a certain stage during the drying process, we drag it across the concrete. Then, as the concrete dries up and the sun bleaches it, it ages itself.”
Hamblin added that a sidewalk clean-up will be held in the spring from the south end of Franklin to Arma.
“We’re going to clean out all the grass and tune it up,” he said.
Hamblin and Nepote have also recently put in the concrete pad for a flag pole at the Franklin Community Center, home of the Miners Hall Museum. That pole has been donated by Paul and Geneva Sayre Schleicher in memory of Ruth McNeil Zemlock and Florene McNeil Sayre.
Among their previous projects are the welcome sign on US 69 Highway, the Franklin Community Park sign and monument, as well as numerous other items at the park, and a sign marking the sidewalk.
Ray Hamblin and John Nepote have been at it again, volunteering their skills and labor to spruce up Franklin.
This time they’re replacing a damaged section of the historic Franklin Sidewalk, located directly across the street from the Miners Hall Museum.
“We wanted to get the sidewalk in shape prior to the arrival of “The Way We Worked,” the Smithsonian traveling exhibit scheduled in May at the museum,” said Phyllis Bitner. “All I had to do was mention it.”
Constructed in 1936 with federal funding assistance, the sidewalk begins at the south edge of Arma and stretches south 1.7 miles to the south edge of Franklin. It has become known as the longest sidewalk connecting two communities, and is listed on both the National and Kansas Registers of Historic Places.
Hamblin said that this particular section of sidewalk had been badly damaged by heavy equipment during the clean-up after Franklin was devastated by a tornado in May 2003.
“We had do dig out all the broken concrete,” he said. “We’re replacing the sections exactly like they were, six feet long, three feet wide and 4 1/2 inches thick.”
Hamblin added that they are antiquing the surface so the sidewalk won’t look new and out-of-place.
“We want the top to look like it’s been worn over the years,” he said. “We’re using a wet piece of carpet and when it gets to a certain stage during the drying process, we drag it across the concrete. Then, as the concrete dries up and the sun bleaches it, it ages itself.”
Hamblin added that a sidewalk clean-up will be held in the spring from the south end of Franklin to Arma.
“We’re going to clean out all the grass and tune it up,” he said.
Hamblin and Nepote have also recently put in the concrete pad for a flag pole at the Franklin Community Center, home of the Miners Hall Museum. That pole has been donated by Paul and Geneva Sayre Schleicher in memory of Ruth McNeil Zemlock and Florene McNeil Sayre.
Among their previous projects are the welcome sign on US 69 Highway, the Franklin Community Park sign and monument, as well as numerous other items at the park, and a sign marking the sidewalk.
