County, CHTA discuss new roof for Homesteads Tower

Oct. 6—The Cumberland Homesteads Tower Association celebrated a successful Apple Festival the final weekend of September, welcoming an estimated 10,000 guests to the historic grounds for the two-day crafts festival.

But that success isn't enough to cover the cost of a new roof on the 1930s structure, Tower President Brenda King told commissioners on the building and grounds committee.

"I would really like to not drag this on another year," she said. "If we could ever get a roof on it, I feel like we would be set for another 80 years."

The Cumberland County Commission has discussed the need for a new roof on the building since March 2020. That discussion led to an investigation into ownership of the facility that once served as the administration building and water tower for the Cumberland Homesteads Resettlement Project during the New Deal.

The school system transferred title of the property to the county and, earlier this year, the county approved a five-year lease with the tower association.

That agreement, however, did not address the roof other than to say neither party was responsible for replacing the roof at this time.

Dewey Walker, 1st District commissioner, asked if the safety of the roof had changed since the lease was approved in July.

King said there are no shingles in danger of falling and hitting someone. However, there will sometimes be water inside the tower during a "blowing rain." And there has been water intrusion in the past.

"We've tried to patch the rotten wood, but we're not equipped to do anything else but what we can reach on a ladder," she said.

Drone footage taken during the Apple Festival showed several places with missing or broken shingles. There is also a concern about rotten wood around windows.

Cumberland County Mayor Allen Foster said the new maintenance supervisor John Doddroe has not evaluated the roof. Nor has the county performed any maintenance on the facility.

King said, "We're willing to do whatever we need to be good stewards of that building."

The association has paid for about $10,000 in maintenance needs this year, King said, including about $4,200 for a new HVAC unit, and about $600 for bathroom repairs,

They have also replaced all the lights with LED fixtures.

The association also paid more than $3,200 for clean up after bats were found living in the tower. The tower had to be closed to the public while the bats remained inside. Once they flew on, the association had to have the tower professionally cleaned.

But King worries the bats will return.

"They can get in if the wood is cracked the width of your small finger. We figure they'll be back because what a perfect place to have your babies — and we can't touch them," King said.

"We are doing what we can afford to do, but there comes a time where we just can't go any further. We can't replace the roof," King said.

Commissioners have previously recommended the association seek out grants that could assist with the cost of a new roof, but King said the seven-person board had not explored those options.

"This is a love for me to help the Homesteads. I don't want it to be my job. We want to do it because we love it," she said.

Rebecca Stone, 3rd District commissioner, said the grant-writing process can be intimidating. However, she said the county has resources to assist the association board. The key is identifying grants and the grant cycle, as many grants are time sensitive.

"It sounds overwhelming, but when you have access to someone who knows what they're doing ... it's really not as difficult," Stone said. "But you've got to identify the grants, identify the cycle and not miss those application times."

Colleen Mall, 9th District commissioner, suggested King sit down with county personnel to look at grants.

"I don't care to find a grant, but the little ones we have found are very time sensitive. We might call and say there's a grant, but it may not kick in for another nine months," King said. "We can do our part, and be happy to do our part."

Wendell Wilson, 6th District commissioner, noted the building was now owned by the county and that may help qualify for additional grant opportunities.

Darrell Threet, 3rd District commissioner, said, "It's always been a county building because the school system owned it."

He wrote a grant for the tower in the 1990s, which required in-kind matching provided through a donation from the county and the use of inmate labor.

"It's hard to find grants specific enough to just do a roof," he said.

Threet said the county needed to move forward and find out how much a new roof will cost. Wilson asked Doddroe to evaluate the roof before the next meeting of the committee, set for Oct. 24 at 4:30 p.m.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.