Oak Bluffs Undergoes Facelift at Town Center; New Brick Sidewalks
Set for Carousel Area

By CHRIS BURRELL

Bricklayers from Rehoboth and a highway crew from Oak Bluffs this
week started rebuilding what could be one of the Island's most
heavily trafficked sidewalks - the one surrounding the Flying
Horses carousel smack in the center of Oak Bluffs.

But the project is more than just a collaboration of laborers.
It's the result of a public-private partnership that means Oak
Bluffs taxpayers will foot just half the bill for the brick sidewalks
and granite curbs.

Picking up the other half of the $115,000 job are the Martha's
Vineyard Cooperative Bank, Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust
and the owners of a gift shop which flanks the Flying Horses.

"We heard the town was interested in doing brick
sidewalks," bank president Richard Leonard said this week.
"We asked if it was possible to do it down on our end of
town."

The pooling of resources made it possible. The town will assume
roughly half the cost, putting four highway workers on the job for two
weeks.

For highway superintendent Richard Combra, Jr., brick is the ideal
paving material. "It's going to be there long after
we're gone," he said Wednesday as he oversaw day two of the
project.

And then there's the 400 feet of granite curbing. Clearly, Mr.
Combra likes the satisfaction of building something that will stand as a
legacy. The old sidewalk had long ago outlived its usefulness.

"The existing sidewalk was very rough with many years of
asphalt patches and pieces of concrete blocks showing through in
areas," said Chris Scott, executive director of the preservation
trust which owns and operates the carousel.

The bank spent much of the last year constructing its new branch at
the front end of the Flying Horses and so the brick sidewalk is really
just the icing on the cake. Tisbury architect Mark Hutker helped out
with the sidewalk plans, but he's also the one responsible for
designing a building that reflected the Victorian-era architecture of
the Oak Bluffs center.

But the town and the three businesses didn't stop at the
sidewalk. The project will also lay another couple pallets of brick over
Farland Square, the little island that houses the information booth.

Crews will also widen out the roadway by the square, making it
easier for cars to navigate the left turn off New York avenue, one of
the busiest intersections in town.

And Tuesday night, Mr. Combra told selectmen he would need to remove
two ornamental pear trees from the square and bring in two newer trees
that will be planted on either side of the booth.

The sidewalk project should be finished in two weeks. Meanwhile,
don't mind the workers or the construction scene if you're
eager to experience a Vineyard rite of spring: The Flying Horses will
open tomorrow and stay open Easter Sunday and through the school holiday
week, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.