Main Street Building Receives Facelift

On Saturday, November 17, 2007, Main Street McMinnville took a leap of faith and removed the metal façade from the outside of the building located at 113 East Main Street. The metal façade had covered the building for the last twenty years making all but impossible to remember what the original façade looked like. Only historic photos provided a clue, but no one really knew if the condition of the building was still in tact.

The façade was put in placed by City Bank and Trust for what was believed to be “the protection of pedestrians from a failing façade”. AEI Architects and Engineers in Cookeville, the same firm responsible for the new Library addition, came to McMinnville free of charge to review the building before the removal as well as inspecting the building during the removal of the metal. Bob Faulhaber, Vice President of AEI said “ there appears to be no structural damage to the building besides the loose brick where the cornice was attached.” AEI will do a more thorough inspection before the end of the year.

Rachel Killebrew, one of the founders of Main Street McMinnville, remarked that this was one of the projects that was a long time coming. “The building has been covered a long time, but the pictures told of another story. I ‘m glad we have begun to restore the building to its glory.” Joe Grissom, a local contractor that specializes in older buildings, was the contractor on the project. Mr. Grissom is also restoring a building in downtown for his own residence in the 300 block of East Main Street.

The plans are to tuckpoint the mortar joints that show cracks, repair the lentils over the windows, repair the existing windows and repaint, install a new upper and lower cornice and name plate at the very top and place an awning on the building. If funds allow, Main Street McMinnville will seek to replace the modern storefront with the historic façade that is present in old photos. Funding in the amount of $2,500 was made possible by an Innovation Grant through the Tennessee Main Street Program. The grant will pay for partial renovations as well.

Main Street McMinnville is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to the revitalization and development of downtown McMinnville. Our vision of historic downtown McMinnville is to create a safe, culturally rich and architecturally preserved downtown which is vibrant and eye-appealing, family and community oriented, and commercially viable. The mission of Main Street McMinnville is to establish a partnership between the public and private sectors dedicated to revitalizing Downtown McMinnville, with emphasis on community livability, economic restructuring and historic preservation. For more information, please contact the Main Street McMinnville at 506-5335 or visit our website at www.mainstreetmcminnville.org.