Grissom puts on good front with grant
That won’t be much of a problem since his back yard consists of concrete and the front yard has a parking sign in it.
Grissom has spent almost two years and several thousand dollars transforming an old barbershop and a furniture warehouse on Main Street into 4,000 square feet of livable space he hopes to one day call home.
While he has saved considerable amounts of money because he has both the skill and the time to do much of the renovation work himself, his efforts were given a boost last week after receiving a $1,000 check from Main Street McMinnville.
The funds paid for part of $7,000 in repairs to the front of his building, located at 304 E. Main Street.
Grissom now has a grand entrance consisting of eight-foot arched double doors that took the place of a solid-plate glass window. The window was also once a garage door for a car dealership. Work was also done to converting or restoring old doors and windows in the remaining part of the building’s fa?ade.
When finished, plans are for the building to be a three-bedroom, three-bath townhouse complete with exposed brick, a great room, kitchen, a couple of balconies and a courtyard, among other amenities.
Grissom estimated he has invested around $35,000 into the project so far and expects another year’s worth of work. Every little bit helps, he said of receiving the grant, which is a reimbursement grant.
“I’m hoping this will promote Main Street and give somebody else a little incentive to get started,” he said. “The $1,000 is not a lot of money, but it helps.”
The Main Street program has four other pass-through grants to give to others doing extensive work on their buildings after receiving $5,000 from Carrier. The grants are being handled by the organization’s Design Committee and Grissom and his spouse, Martha, were announced as the first recipients this week.
Karen Kerce, who is restoring the Lively Building, and Bobby Kirby, who has restored properties on Spring Street, have also applied to receive grants, according to committee chairperson Rachel Killebrew.
Killebrew said the Grissom’s work serves as a shining example of the potential on Main Street.
“I have been following the design and the work that Joe and his wife are doing and think this is one of the most exciting projects we have going on,” Killebrew said, also making note of low-interest loan programs. “It is a very large project, but one which will serve as an example of the possibilities, especially right now while there are still buildings available at very low cost and incentive programs to assist with the cost as well as personal assistance.”