Historical Society: BOE Has "Obligation" To Safeguard Historic Assets

Photo credit: Cherokee County Historical Society

The Cherokee County Historical Society is weighing in on comments made on Thursday by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo, which explain his recommendation to demolish Buildings A and B for a new school district central office complex and also address criticism of him and the Cherokee County School Board.

The historical society and other local residents have announced opposition to Petruzielo’s recommendation and a petition was created to ask the school board to consider integrating one of the two building into the district’s plans.

Petruzielo last week recommended to the board that the district demolish both Building A, the former Canton Cotton Mill offices, and Building B, the former Canton Grammar School.

Building B was renovated more than 30 years ago for office use with no preservation of historic details and was closed six years ago due to structural, safety and health concerns, the school district said.

The basement level of the two-floor Building A was closed shortly after due to similar concerns. As a result of these closures, several departments and more than 100 district employees were relocated to schools and other facilities.

The school district’s project would replace the administration buildings with a single, three-story building on the same footprint. The construction of a new facility would accommodate all district staff, cost $9.9 million and could be completed by the fall of 2016.

School district staff said both buildings have already been evaluated by independent architects, who say renovating the structures ”would be significantly more expensive than construction of a new facility on the same footprint,” the district said on Wednesday, adding the renovation costs would exceed $14 million.

The historical society states retaining both at least one building is the key to keeping the historic characteristics of the city in place.

According to the society, the school district could consider many layouts that would integrate one of the buildings into the new campus, such as a breezeway to connect the old with the new. It also recommended that architects choose a design that would be compatible with existing downtown structures.

The historical society’s letter is as follows:

Dear Dr. Petruzielo and Cherokee County School Board members:

Thank you for your recent correspondence. As stated earlier, we appreciate all of your past historic preservation efforts. Our campaign to save the former Canton Elementary and former Cotton Mill office was not done to intimidate or threaten, but to demonstrate how much community support there is for these historic landmarks.

As taxpayers, we appreciate your efforts to be fiscally responsible, and understand the responsibility of owning an historic landmark. With ownership comes stewardship. After your donation of the Rock Barn, the Historical Society raised almost $500,000 from private donors and foundations for its rehabilitation and continued maintenance. Likewise we feel that the BOE had an obligation to safeguard their historic taxpayer assets.

As also stated earlier, we support your plans to build downtown, but ask that you consider integrating at least one of these historic buildings into your new plans. Have you considered the option of building behind Building A (former Cotton Mill office)? Once repaired, this structure could continue to serve as office space and be a transition between historic Main Street and your new 3-story, 75,000 square foot building.

Or, perhaps there is room to build behind the Grammar School? These are just a couple of options that could be explored in a public forum. We hope that a compromise can be reached that will serve the needs of the CCSD and respect the public’s support of these buildings.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss this further, in the format or venue you would prefer.

Sincerely,

Cherokee County Historical Society Board of Directors

What Should You Read Next?

• Petruzielo: Not in Taxpayer’s “Best Interest” To Renovate Buildings
• Petition Created To Save Historic Canton Buildings
• Group Wants School Board To Integrate Historic Buildings Into Office Plans
• Petruzielo: Replace Former Canton Mill Office, Grammar School Buildings

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