Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette The Hancock Street building that was the childhood home of artist Mary Chase Perry Stratton could receive a grant to add apartments and an artist-in-residence space.

HANCOCK — A historic Hancock building could get renovated.

The city’s Downtown Development Authority wrote a letter of support for a Revitalization and Placemaking Program grant for the Celtic House on Hancock Street. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. program will use $100 million in stimulus funding for purposes such as renovating or repurposing vacant, underutilized, blighted or historic buildings, according to the MEDC’s website.

The building dates back to 1860, when Ransom Shelden constructed it as a home for rent, according to a history compiled by the Celtic Quarter, a non-profit group that purchased the building in 2010. The project would create two apartments upstairs and an artist-in-residence space downstairs. The Copper Country Community Arts Council is also interested in participating in the project, City Manager Mary Babcock said.

The hope is that the apartments will make the property self-sustaining, Babcock said. If that happens, the building will be placed in a trust, she said.

In the mid-19th century, the building was the childhood home of Mary Chase Perry Stratton, a co-founder of Pewabic Pottery. Perry developed an iridescent glaze that became a hallmark. Her work can be seen in notable spots like the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, earned the pottery’s Detroit headquarters its own designation as a national historic landmark in 1991.

The project has received letters of support from the Keweenaw National Historic Park, Copper Country Arts Center and the Pewabic Pottery Foundation.

News on the outcome of the grant request should come within the next couple of months, Babcock said.

“It looks like it could be a really credible grant and a great addition to Hancock Street,” she said.

If the renovation is successful, Mayor Paul LaBine suggested a Pewabic Pottery installation at the site.

In addition to its connection to a famed artist, the 1860 building is one of few in Hancock that survived the 1869 fire, said Councilor John Haeussler.

“It’s a really cool piece of history for the city of Hancock,” he said. “It would be nice to see that building come back to life.”