by Trish Rudder
With the help of a grant from the State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO), the Foxglove Garden Club’s German Cemetery Committee members met last Friday to discuss the ADA Compliant walkway path that will meander through the cemetery.
Foxglove member Linda Lockhart said last week that the initial Phase One of the sidewalk will start at the entrance to the cemetery at Warren and Green streets using the “historic yellow pavers from Fairfax Street donated from the Town.”
Certain requirements must be adhered to for the walkway to be Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant. The path should be firm, stable and slip-resistant; it must be a minimum of 36 inches wide, but can be wider; it must be made with hard materials, like concrete, asphalt and wood and should not have any trip hazards, according to an ADA regulations site.
Town of Bath Councilwoman Mary Lynn Hickey, who chairs the Grants Committee for the town and helped secure the $8,000 funding, said the $5,000 SHPO grant portion will help pay for the German cemetery upgrades. The $3,000 portion from SHPO will be used for the beautification work by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) members at the Olde English cemetery.
Lockhart said the walkway will pass by the markers installed by the DAR in memory of those Revolutionary War individuals interred in the German cemetery and will also pass by the Foxglove Garden Club marker listing all known individuals interred in the cemetery.
Master mason and local business owner of Third Pig Masonry, David Stohl will complete the project, Lockhart said. Stohl’s group built the stone walls that surround the cemetery that started this beautification project a few years ago.
Discussions are underway, Lockhart said, to have local students in need of service project hours or would like masonry experience to help install the pavers.
Phase Two of the project will continue the walkway to the arched cemetery entrance at the corner of Mercer Street and Route 9.
