Rotary Club hopes to make Lakeview project a community effort
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

PHOTO BY ROB PRICE Flags line the path of a future concrete walkway that will link Lakeview Apartments to the nearby Deals Plaza.

BATH - By this time next year, residents of the Clyde F. Simon Lakeview Apartments may find their treks to the nearby Deals Plaza simplified with the completion of a decorated concrete walkway linking the two properties.

The sidewalk is a yearlong project initiated by the Bath Rotary Club and employing the shared services of numerous community organizations, including a BOCES heavy equipment class.

"It's rolling," said Bath Rotarian Mike Slovak Thursday. Slovak and fellow Rotarian Greg Rougeux already have cleared brush and staked out the curving pathway that winds from Lakeview Apartments to the plaza.

The idea is to address the walking needs of Lakeview residents who currently have to trudge along county Route 54 in order to visit Deals Plaza stores. The residents also have the option of following a path through brush between the plaza and the apartment complex, but the trail is frequently inaccessible or, during winter and spring, soft and soggy.

While the Rotary Club is spearheading the project, Rotarians note it will only be successful through a community-wide effort.

The club is appealing to area residents for financial donations, as well as personal services, in order to make the walkway a reality.

"We think a lot of community service organizations will be interested in helping out on this," Slovak said.

The project may tap not only local resources; the office of state Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, also is coordinating its shared services program with the Rotary Club to provide additional support.

BOCES heavy equipment students will help excavate ground for the 800-foot-long pathway as part of the shared services partnership; BOCES students also will build benches and flower boxes that will line the walkway.

Separately, the Rotary Club hopes to organize individual volunteers to help out. The club expects to host two "community days" in the fall, when volunteers can landscape the ground area

on both sides of the five-foot wide walkway. "The message is, 'Bring your rake,' Slovak said.

Beyond that, the club is soliciting financial contributions to pay for the material costs of the project. The walkway will be made of concrete, and club members hope to erect a decorative gazebo alongside the walkway to supplement the benches.

"Rather than just a walkway, they're going to have a ark," Slovak said of the 190 residents of Lakeview.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the Lakeview Walkway Project can learn more by contacting Slovak at 769-4900; or Rotarians Robin Lattimer, 776-9691; Don Snyder, 776-3781, or Greg Rougeux, 776-9781. Checks may be mailed to: The Bath Rotary Club, Lakeview Walkway Project, PO Box 648, Bath, NY 14810. Checks should be made payable to Bath Rotary Walkway Project.