Historic Clinton buildings receive grant for preservation

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Historic Downtown Clinton is the only city in East Tennessee to get the Downtown Improvement Grant, totaling $73,000.

Five buildings in Clinton will use the funds to get some much-needed cosmetic work.

“I think the money that we’re receiving from this grant will match the heart of what’s already here. We have a beautiful heart in this community,” said Katherine Birkbeck, Exec. Director of Historic Downtown Clinton. “Now we just need to show the face of it, too.”

Owner of the Historic Taylor Building, Clay Good, will receive $35,576 in addition to his own contribution match. Good plans to make the building look like it did when it was built in 1890.

“It will pretty much be scraping everything down, repairing mortar joints, getting it all cleaned up, and pretty much getting it back to the same color it was when it was bright and shiny in the 1890s,” said Good.

Jane Holt leases two buildings that will receive grant funds. She plans to use the money on outdoor maintenance and the building’s façade.

“It is majorly important to preserve the history of the buildings and to keep the town alive through the history,” she said.

Ultimately, the restoration project is about more than paint jobs and repairs.

“I want our kids at Clinton High School, Clinton Middle School, all the way down to the elementary school to have ownership in their town and come back and invest in it,” said Birkbeck.