News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The City of Algood secured a $22,500 dollar grant to continue restoration work on the White Plains mansion.
Mayor Lisa Chapman-Fowler said she is thrilled the city received the funds to continue the project.
“We would like to get it to a place where, eventually, we can have people staff it and explain the history of the home and give tours,” Chapman-Fowler said.
Algood purchased the property from Scott and Mona Copeland in 2018 for $250,000 dollars. The city plans on turning the mansion into a museum and cultural center.
“We would like it to be used for a variety of things,” Chapman-Fowler said. “We want to have events. We’ve had an Easter event and we have a Christmas event that is extremely popular. We want to make it a show piece and give the public a chance to see what the house is really like.”
White Plains was built around 1848 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The state grant will allow the city to make some cosmetic and structural improvements to the mansion.
“We had begun to scraping the front part of the house to put some new paint on,” Chapman-Fowler said. “We’ve been evaluating the roof to see what needs to be done so that can be shored up. That is specifically what the grant was for.”
Chapman-Fowler said the grant gets Algood closer to its goal, but a lot of work is left before it can become a live museum.
“It will help tremendously,” Chapman-Fowler said. “Of course, it won’t do everything. I would say it’s still going to be a work in progress, but the public will be able to tell a big difference once we get some paint on there and have the roof repaired.”
It is still unknown when Algood can open White Plains to the public, but Chapman-Fowler said she hopes restoration can continue in earnest as things return to normal.
“As soon as we get back to full capacity,” Chapman-Fowler said, “we’ll start taking advantage of the weather and using these funds wisely to see they are spent is the best possible way.”
