KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Some East Tennessee communities got state grants to help them rehabilitate historic buildings, making sure they're able to safely preserve some of the oldest parts of their towns.
The Tennessee Historic Development Grant program was approved by lawmakers in April 2021 and will provide $6.1 million in total to support projects that renovate and preserve historic buildings across the state. The program is also meant to encourage private developers and communities to invest in historic buildings which may have once been hubs of activity, but now sit mostly empty.
A list of the East Tennessee communities getting grants to help support historic buildings is available below.
- Rhea County Government: $250,000 to rehabilitate the Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton
- Hamblen County Government: $500,000 to rehabilitate the Hamblen County Courthouse in Morristown
- Meigs County Government: $500,000 to rehabilitate the Meigs County Courthouse in Decatur
- Greene County Government: $500,000 to rehabilitate the Greene County Courthouse in Greeneville
- Morristown Corner Development, LLC: $500,000 to rehabilitate the Whittaker-Holtsinger Hardware Co. 113, 115, 117 North Cumberland in Morristown
- City of Cleveland: $500,000 to rehabilitate the Cherokee Hotel, 44 Inman Street in Cleveland
To be eligible for a grant, locations need to either be listed in the National Register of Historic Places or part of a National Register of Historic Places district. Recipients also need to be in a distressed or at-risk county or a federally qualified opportunity zone. They can also be accredited Tennessee Main Street communities or Tennessee Downtown communities.
Money can also go to certified local governments approved by the National Parks Service in counties with less than 200,000 people.
