Polk County has been awarded a half million dollar grant to make major repairs to the courthouse in Benton.
In an email to Polk County Executive Robby Hatcher, Kim Parks wrote, “Congratulations! Polk County was awarded a Historic Development Grant-Courthouse Round in the amount of $500,000.”
Parks wrote that the conditions for the scope of the work and contracting process have begun.
Parks is the Tennessee Main Street director for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
Parks concluded to Hatcher, “Your dedication to the preservation of the historic courthouse is appreciated.”
The county’s Joint Economic Community Development (JECD) Board began working to find money to fix the courthouse in February 2025 when it was created by Hatcher under the Industrial Economic Development (IED) Board to administer the ThreeStar program.
Needed courthouse improvements were identified as new windows, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, and fixing and updating restrooms.
Monica Farrow, who chairs the JECD Board, said, “Thank you to County Executive Robby Hatcher for trusting the JECD Board and placing it under the Polk County IED Board.
“In less than a year, this Board has returned $250,000 to Polk County high schools and $500,000 to the historic courthouse government building, totaling $750,000 in grant taxpayer returns to Polk County.”
Besides Hatcher, Farrow continued, “I would like to thank all of the JECD Board members, the public officials that signed letters, our state legislators, our county commissioners (particularly Samantha Trantham and Keith Barker who have attended most of our meetings), every Polk County resident and non resident that signed our petition, Lane Tillner, Stefanie Haire, and our Governor Bill Lee.”
Farrow said the JECD Board’s next project will be to apply for a Parks and Recreation grant to address the need for a potential splash pad and an updated concession stand in East Polk, and for updated fencing and grounds for the ball fields in West Polk.