Canton Closes On Sale of Historic Buildings

CANTON, GA -- It appears the final piece to spark redevelopment on two parcels in downtown Canton has been put into place.

The city of Canton late last week closed on an agreement with HIP Acquisitions LLC to sell the former Canton textile offices and Canton grammar school for $600,000.

Both buildings were formerly owned by the Cherokee County Board of Education, but the city of Canton obtained ownership of the property in a land swap deal struck in 2015.

"I can now un-cross my fingers," Mayor Gene Hobgood said Friday on his Facebook page. "The closing on the two historic buildings and 4+/- acres went smoothly."

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Along with preserving both buildings, the city also retained space to accommodate 125 public parking spaces. 

The Cherokee County School District utilized the old textile mill offices as its main central offices operations. Dubbed Building A by the school district, the basement level of the two-floor facility was closed several years ago for health, structural and safety concerns.

Building B, the former grammar school, was renovated more than 30 years ago for office use with no preservation of historic details and was closed seven years ago due to similar, the school district has previously said. Both buildings were recommended for demolition by former Cherokee Schools Superintendent Dr. Frank Petruzielo, so Canton put forth the land swap deal in a bid to save the buildings.

That land deal approved last year included the city swapping 19.78 acres of land located along Bluffs Parkway in exchange for the property that’s home to the historic buildings.

Under that deal, Canton retained about 4.19 acres that would be used as the future site for a fire station. Additionally, the school district would construct a shared access drive to be used by the city in relation to the fire station as well as the district for its operations.

The school district is using the Bluffs property to build a new administrative complex for its operations. 

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Image via Bill Grant