James Wood
Staff Writer
The historic Shelbyville Square is continuing to expand throughout the holiday season with many exciting things happening and new businesses flourishing, restoring the Square’s liveliness to new heights. Beth Davis, a co-founder of the newly-opened Grindstone Cowboy, commented on the projects being led by them in conjunction with the city to expand and beautify the Square, particularly along the new pedestrian walkway alongside the Duck River on Spring Street.
According to Davis, the building where the Grindstone Cowboy is now was originally soon to be condemned, however the city was invested in building a pedestrian walkway as a part of the new Riverview District that is currently underway in Shelbyville. This incentivized the Grindstone Cowboy to start a joint investment in developing the area around and in the building into a small shopping district that will be a part of the new beatification project. The City has continued to work with businesses on the Square to revitalize the area.
Shelbyville Mayor Randy Carroll stated that the city has worked closely with merchants on the square to coordinate the project in a way that serves both the citizens of the city and the businesses both. The Historic Zoning Commission and the Building and Codes Commission of Shelbyville have worked on coming to a resolution on the stages of the project along with acquiring grants from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The riverwalk, overlook, and pedestrian walkway where Spring Street is currently are all slated to be finished by 2027 with the walkway in particular possibly being completed by the end of 2026. Mayor Carroll also mentioned that one of the primary goals of the city is to avoid debt and apply for grants one step at a time throughout the project.
As of now, the pedestrian parkway outside the Grindstone Cowboy that is currently finished will host various new amenities like new lighting, benches, and more. All of which is on track and being actively worked on.
Shelbyville City Council Member Henry Feldhaus III commented on the project, “When we started down this path to look for an asset in the city that can help bring good quality entertainment and revenue to Shelbyville, tourism of the riverfront was an underutilized asset.” According to Feldhaus, the state has given a $5 million dollar grant to the city to begin construction of the new walkway along the riverside. The Grindstone Cowboy building is on track for completion by January to February. There will be several years to go before the full project is complete, but the first steps have been made in reviving a once neglected part of the square that will soon possibly bring people from all across the region.