Photo: County Historian David Webb addresses the first public meeting of the Save The Grove Tower committee. Shannon McFarlin photo.
By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–The ball is starting to roll for the Save Grove Tower Association, which drew a crowd of some 40 interested citizens for its first public session.
Monday’s meeting was held at the Paris Academy for the Arts, which is another historic building which was restored—it originally was the Paris Male Academy, then the Paris City High School, and then the Lee School.
The Save Grove Tower committee aims to raise funds to restore Grove Tower, one of Henry County’s most important and cherished landmarks. Organizers have been meeting in smaller groups for the past couple of months and already have established a 501c3 non-profit status, have a bank account and a Facebook page.
Due to structural issues in the building—which was constructed in 1906—the building was vacated by the county schools’ central offices in April of 2023. Temporary stabilization work was performed later in 2023.
Proposed goals for the Save Grove Tower Association include advocating with local government officials for much-needed repairs, proposing and supporting adaptive reuse of the building, assisting with grant writing, and raising funds to preserve this vital piece of the community’s heritage.
Grove High School was the first privately endowed public high school in Tennesse. It was closed after graduating the class of 1969 and replaced by Henry County High School.The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980
County Historian (and County Commissioner) David Webb provided a history of the historic structure, noting that the late E.W. Grove of Paris specifically selected the site for Grove Tower, which sits on the highest point in Henry County and the highest point between St. Louis and the Gulf of Mexico.
In addition to serving as Grove High School for decades, the structure is the birthplace of Vocational Education in the U.S., producing the nation’s first vocational education program under Dudley Clements.
Without public support for restoration and revitalization of the structure, its future is uncertain, Webb said.
“Grove Tower should be preserved, stabilize the interior, repair and restore the exterior and the building should be occupied,” he said, noting that county officials are currently in the process of studying the aging buildings in the county government and finding spaces for county offices.
It has been suggested that Grove Tower could house the County Archives and Genealogy offices, a history museum, veterans’ research and possibly even a national FFA Museum, which does not currently exist. “That would add another layer of tourism for our area,” Webb said.
Henry County Schools Director Dr. Leah Watkins pledged her support for the Save The Grove Tower committee’s efforts. “We do care about the Grove building. It does matter to our county and I’ll help however I can,” she said.
County Commissioner Marty Visser said the county’s first priority at this point is to find space for the offices currently in the County Courthouse Annex, which has been deemed unsafe. “We are strapped for money and we know the Grove building is in bad shape. But we need to find a place for the employees at the annex right now. That has to be our priority now—keeping people safe.”
Webb said earlier in the meeting that the Save the Tower committee would be seeking methods of funding, including grants, fundraisers and other means.
People at Monday’s session were supportive of the efforts of the committee, which will shortly begin the process of appointing an advisory board and other committees to start restoration efforts in earnest.
The date of the next meeting will be announced.