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Paducah’s Hotel Metropolitan receiving $50,000 to preserve African American historic site

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hotel metropolitan
By Kenzie Dillow

(WSIL) -- Gov. Andy Beshear and the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet announced that three Kentucky historic preservation projects will receive $150,000 in federal funding to help preserve African American history in the commonwealth.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that 40 grants totaling more than $3 million will be distributed nationally from the  to help preserve historic African American sites and buildings, including three projects from Kentucky. 

Each Kentucky project will receive $50,000 to continue efforts to preserve these historical sites that represent African American history and culture in the commonwealth.

The historic sites that will receive funding in Kentucky are:

  • , Paducah, to restore the Purple Room, which was used as an after-hours gathering space for musicians traveling on the “Chitlinâ€� Circuit.â€� Built by a woman, Maggie Steed, and opened in 1909, the hotel served Black travelers at a time when lodging was segregated, and it was later listed in the Green Book. The hotel hosted notables such as musicians Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
  • , Hardin, located within , the first segregated state park and recreational site for Black Americans in the South; established in 1951, operated until 1964, and abandoned until 2002. Today the park is used for weddings and other recreational activities. Funding will be used for interpretative signage and programming to tell its story; Friends of Cherokee State Park is the recipient. 
  • , Lexington, for a feasibility study and business plan for reuse of the circa 1961 Midcentury building by social service and philanthropic organizations, to carry on the legacy of community service by its builder, pioneering Black pharmacist Dr. Zirl A. Palmer. Dr. Palmer was the third African American to own and operate a pharmacy in Lexington; Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation is the recipient.

“These grants further support the preservation of these irreplaceable historic resources that help identify and tell the stories of African Americans in Kentucky,� said Gov. Beshear. “Kentucky is so heavily represented in this year’s grant pool, and that speaks to the hard work of volunteers, non-profits, community advocates and state agencies that are dedicated to ensuring these important places are represented in our history.�

To learn about historic preservation efforts in Kentucky, visit .

To view the full list of  2021 grantees, visit .