KTKA

Walt Stevenson is bound to a wheel chair after losing one of his legs, and he says getting around some areas of North Topeka is almost impossible. "It's pretty bad especially on brick, the brick is so old and so messed up, sometimes it tears the rubber off the wheels of the wheel chair," Stevenson said.

Stevenson says at times, he's even fallen out of his chair. "I found that the curb hadn't been cut and in one place I even found a couple of steps, and I was bloom out on the ground."

Katrina Bayless and Deb Dunkin, and members of the Historic North Topeka Neighborhood Improvement Association saw the problem Stevenson and others faced, and wrote a proposal for an Empowerment Grant from the city. "We knew there were a lot of sidewalks that were not the greatest so we decided to look and see which ones needed to be replaced for the safety of everyone," Bayless said.

The NIA focused on two other areas beside the sidewalks. A bus shelter at Laurent and Quincy, which many bus riders say would be beneficial. "I ride the bus often and a shelter here would help everybody here who rides the bus, because when it rains or when it's cold it will provide shelter for us," bus rider Mickey Ortega said.

The last thing the NIA hopes to get is a place at Garfield park to add to the area. This old abandoned tennis court is where the NIA hopes to build a big open air shelter so people can enjoy the community and the pool right next door.

Katrina says they hope to be able to get the grant for all three, any would help the people in their community.

The entire empowerment grant is 150 thousand dollars, and the Historic North Topeka NIA asked for about 120 thousand. A city spokesperson said they should know who will get the grants, and how much money each will receive by the end of this week.