File photoThe Meridian City Council voted Tuesday night to approve the submittal of a grant application to help renovate the permanent home of the Jimmie Rodgers Museum in the former Railway Express Agency building. 

The Meridian City Council voted Tuesday night to approve the submittal of a grant application to help renovate what is expected to be the permanent home of the Jimmie Rodgers Museum.

The city will apply for a more than $430,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to pay for materials to preserve and stabilize the former Railway Express Agency building, according to Laura Carmichael, Meridian’s community development director and a board member for the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation.

The Community Heritage Preservation Grant Program requires a 20 percent match and the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation is beginning a fundraising campaign, she said.

“We are wanting to be diligent in seeking funds to help preserve and protect this historic building in our city,” Carmichael said.

Earlier this year, the foundation said needed improvements included renovating bathrooms, installing an alarm system, replacing windows and the roof and possibly replacing the HVAC system.

The museum, which had been located in Highland Park, is currently closed and is in the process of moving to an empty transitional space downtown on Front Street until the repairs to the REA building are complete, according to Carmichael.

The museum is expected to reopen in the transitional space in early October, she said. 

Carmichael said a Ken Burns-produced documentary series, “Country Music,” which premiered Sunday, has increased interest in Rodgers, known as “The Father of Country Music.”

A decision on the grant application will be made in December, Carmichael told the council.