The City of Paducah is receiving over $1 million in grant funding to continue restoration at the Hotel Metropolitan and carry on the legacy of the historic site that once served as a space for African American travelers during the Jim Crow Era.
The far Western Kentucky city announced earlier this week that The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting the arts and humanities, awarded Paducah $1.34 million to support the former hotel – which first opened in 1909 and now serves as a museum recognizing the community’s African American history.
Betty Dobson is the executive director of the Hotel Metropolitan and director of the Upper Town Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization that oversees the historic site. She started restoration work at the museum and cultural space more than 20 years ago, and now gives guided interactive tours of space in the role of Maggie Steed, the hotel’s founder.
When Dobson learned that the city would be receiving this grant on behalf of the Hotel Metropolitan, she said it was like “a burden lifted off my shoulders.”
“It’s a relief, really, to know that, if I’m not going to be here anymore or can’t be here anymore, that it will still be able to live on without me,” Dobson said. “We know that the legacy will continue, whether we’re here or not.”
The Hotel Metropolitan served as a space for Black travelers to stay during the days of segregation. It was listed in the Green Book, a travel guide that listed locations that were safe for African Americans to visit or stay during their travels.
Paducah was once a hotspot on the Chitlin Circuit, a network of venues across the country that provided spaces for African American musicians and comedians to perform during the Jim Crow Era. When artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles and Duke Ellington performed in the city or stopped to stay while touring, they stayed at the Hotel Metropolitan.
According to a release from the City of Paducah, the three-year grant will be used for building improvements on the Hotel Metropolitan and its Purple Room, an accessory building that was used during segregation for parties, community meetings and performances. The grant funding will also support hiring additional staff members and developing more historic programming at the site for future generations.
“This grant and the partnership with the City of Paducah set the foundation for a bright future for the Hotel Metropolitan and a boost in tourism for our community,” Paducah Mayor George Bray said in a press release.
Paducah also agreed to a $250,000 grant match for the current fiscal year. Contingent upon a co-stewardship agreement between the city and the Upper Town Heritage Foundation, Paducah is also pledging an additional $250,000 for each of the next two fiscal years for the project.
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Paducah City Manager Daron Jordan said the collaboration on the restoration project is a “great example of how a local government can partner with a nonprofit to preserve a cultural and historic icon.”
Dobson said she had heard some criticisms about the city agreeing to invest in the historic site instead of spending that money on other community initiatives. She advocated for the preservation of sites like the Hotel Metropolitan, which she said was one of the last of its kind in Kentucky that hasn’t been repurposed.
“Once history is gone, you can’t reclaim it anymore,” Dobson said. “I want them to understand that this hotel is more important than what they could imagine. It’s significant to the African American community, but it’s significant to our history as a whole, not just Black people, but all of our history as a whole.”
This story is republished with permission from WKMS. Read the original.
Hannah Saad is the assistant news director for WKMS. Originally from Michigan, Hannah earned her bachelor’s degree in news media from The University of Alabama. Prior to joining WKMS in March 2023, Hannah was a news reporter at The Paducah Sun.
