Martin, Tenn.–As reported Thursday, the City of Martin, a Tennessee Downtowns Community, has been awarded a nearly $300,000 grant as part of the Downtown Improvement Grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. This grant will help the Martin Downtown Commercial Historic District (MDCHD) building owners improve building facades and other exterior upgrades.
The Martin Downtown Commercial Historic District (MDCHD) has seen transformational improvements over the past ten years and these funds will help continue to complement those efforts. The entire MDCHD was recently designated on the National Register of Historic Places due to the amount of contributing architectural factors and restoration. The listing on the National Registry is a real crowning achievement for the City of Martin.
Brad Thompson, Director of Economic and Community Development for the City of Martin, led those efforts and has been successful over his tenure in bringing nearly $1M in grant funds to MDCHD property owners for façade improvements.
Thompson stated, “ It was our goal ten years ago that the Historic Business District be the commercial and recreational epicenter of Martin. I do not know that you ever officially accomplish a goal like that; however, I would say that we have made great strides toward that goal. The difficult part is maintaining past successes, while continuing to aim higher. There has been significant private investment in our historic downtown as well, and those private dollars have been supplemented by local, state, and federal government investments.”
The Downtown Improvement Grant funds will help local business owners continue to make improvements to their building facades and maintain existing improvements. There are fourteen properties who expressed interest in the grant totaling $399,034.74 in projects with $299, 276.06 in grant funds. The 25% match is required of the property owner, and the property owner may not sell the property for five years or the grant funds must be repaid by the property owner.
Thompson further stated that “the City of Martin will be administering compliance of the projects alongside the City of Martin Historic Zoning Commission. We are very fortunate that in Martin that nearly 100% of the buildings in downtown are owned by the occupant/business. That is highly unusual and really speaks to the pride in community of our residents. This grant was highly competitive, and I am thankful that the State of Tennessee sees value in continuing to invest in our city.”