CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee — Officials here are about to wrap one of downtown’s most recognizable buildings in scaffolding for a long-overdue roof replacement project tied to storm damage from last year.
City officials said work begins May 18 on a full replacement of the copper-and-slate roof at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center. The job, handled by The Tradesmen Group, is expected to continue into 2027.
The project carries a $2.5 million price tag, most of it covered by a $2.3 million insurance settlement tied to a May 2024 hail storm that damaged the building’s aging roof system. Some of the copper and slate elements date back more than a century.
For downtown Clarksville, this is less about routine maintenance and more about keeping one of the city’s defining landmarks from slipping into expensive decline. The museum sits at the corner of Second and Commerce streets, where it has anchored downtown since the late 1800s — first as a federal customs house and post office, later as a museum documenting the region’s history.
The work will not be subtle. Scaffolding will surround the entire building, and city officials said temporary sidewalk closures are expected while crews install protected walkways. Part of the Cumberland Plaza Parking Garage surface lot, across from the museum, will serve as a staging area for materials during the project.
The building itself reflects the version of Clarksville that emerged during the tobacco boom of the late 19th century, when the city’s economy and river access made it one of Tennessee’s more active commercial hubs. Federal architect William Martin Aiken designed the structure in 1898 with a mix of Italianate details and a slate roof influenced by Far Eastern architecture — not exactly the kind of roof you replace with a trip to the hardware store.
The building became the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center in 1984 and remains one of Tennessee’s largest general-interest museums outside Nashville.
NewsChannel 5 in Nashville reported the project could extend into summer 2027, slightly longer than the city’s early-2027 estimate.
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