Clay County received some $100,000 in state grant money to repair steps and make repairs at the historic County Courthouse.
The county’s grant, one of the largest amounts awarded by the Tennessee State Museum as part of its Capital Improvement Program. Curator Thomas Watson said work to save the Courthouse began roughly a dozen years ago when all of the administrative offices moved out.
“And it’s been kind of deserted, so we started out with a small grant with the Tennessee Historical Commission,” Watson said. “And then we’ve worked our way up now where we’ve gotten enough grants where we are very very close to having the old building back to a very, very useful building.”
Watson said the majority of the grant will go to repairing the courthouse staircase. Watson said those steps are no longer safe. They hope to replace those steps. HVAC and electrical issues are also on the agenda.
“Doors, floors, windows–we’re getting all of those up to grade,” Watson said. “And this grant is going to enable us to nearly finish the work that needs to be done here in the old courthouse.”
Watson said the brick courthouse originally had copper wiring, which could cause electrical fires. The county fixed a portion of the wiring with smaller grants. They plan to finish fixing the electrical work with this grant.
