How the Hotel Metropolitan grant will be used

The City of Paducah is a recipient of a $1.34 million Humanities in Place grant from the Mellon Foundation on behalf of the Upper Town Heritage Foundation to support the Hotel Metropolitan on Oscar Cross Avenue.

Serving currently as a museum and cultural space, the Hotel Metropolitan is a restored hotel that provided a place of safety and refuge during racial segregation with noted artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals staying there including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Thurgood Marshall, and the Harlem Globetrotters.

The Purple Room is an accessory building of the museum that was constructed during segregation for parties, community meetings, and performances.

In order to continue the story of the Hotel for future generations, new programming will be developed, staff added, and building improvements completed. 

Visitors to the Hotel Metropolitan often are welcomed by Executive Director Betty Dobson who brings the history of the hotel to life by telling the story of Ms. Maggie Steed, who with passion and grit and by using her private residence as collateral had the Hotel Metropolitan built in Paducah for African American travelers 120 years ago.

In addition to the $1.34 million, the city is pledging a $250,000 grant match for each of the three coming fiscal years.