Bringing holiday spirit, Bredesen hands out $1 million in grants

By Tom Smith
Senior Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 9:54 p.m.

LAWRENCEBURG, TENN. - Although Christmas is three weeks away, Gov. Phil Bredesen came to Lawrenceburg on Tuesday morning bearing gifts.

With more than 400 people on hand at the historic Crockett Theater to greet the governor, Bredesen handed out more than $1 million in grants, all of which will be used in Lawrence County.

"It's great to be able to be here and present several grants to help Lawrence County put its best foot forward," Bredesen said.

"We have such deep roots in our communities, and I'm glad to be able to do this to give our citizens a chance to weather any storm."

Some of the money will be spent on the following projects:

a $180,000 Department of Transportation Enhancement Grant for work at Crockett Theater in Lawrenceburg.

a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant for Loretto for a waterline replacement.

a $206,666 CDBG for St. Joseph for water treatment plant improvements.

a $500,000 CDBG for Lawrenceburg for sewer system improvements.

Lawrenceburg Mayor Keith Durham said the $180,000 committed to Crockett Theater will be used to develop a welcome center inside the front lobby of the theater, which the city owns.

"Renovations to the theater have been going on for 10 years or so," Durham said. "This money will help us continue to do work on the project and enhance the theater."

Vic Pusser, superintendent of the Lawrenceburg Utilities Department, said the sewer rehabilitation project involves completely removing and replacing old clay sewer pipes from several areas within the city.

"It's something we've been working on for sometime," Pusser said.

"The old pipes are in bad shape and this will allow us to remove them, which will improve the system."

Lawrence County Executive Paul Rosson, whose office worked closely with the cities to write the grants, said all of the grant money will go to help enhance the communities and the county.

"This will help us as we try to improve the quality of life for everyone in Lawrence County," Rosson said.

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@timesdaily.com.