Water Authority Demolishes Old Downtown Canton Home

Sign up for the Canton-Sixes Patch newsletter!

---

Canton, GA -- An old house that greeted motorists as they entered downtown Canton is no longer standing.

That’s according to the Cherokee County Water and Sewerage Authority, who told Patch the structure along West Main Street near Waleksa Street had to come down.

“It was falling down,” said CCWSA General Manager Tom Heard, adding the side of the house facing West Main Street began to collapse.

Heard said the flooring of the house began to rot and ”give way.”

The house, which Heard said CCWSA had previously been used for office space for the Authority, had no foundation, and multiple additions have been built onto the house over the last several decades.

CCWSA officials inquired about the feasibility of renovating the structure for its use, but Heard said those costs turned out to be ”astronomical.”

With that in mind, CCWSA officials met with engineers, who recommended the house be demolished. Heard also said the project was approved by the authority’s Board of Directors, and the agency obtained the necessary permits from the city of Canton to move forward with the demolition.

“It wasn’t something we did it short-handedly,” Heard added.

On its Facebook page, the Cherokee County Historical Society said it was “very surprised and saddened” to see the house destroyed.

“We don’t have a lot of written history of this building, but do know that the Victorian-era structure served as a boarding house in the 1920,” the organization said.

CCWSA still owns the property where the house previously stood, and Heard said the plan is to eventually build something on the site for the agency’s use.

For example, CCWSA is eyeing a proposal that would construct a lab for its use. As with any project, CCWSA would need to collect the revenue needed before it could embark on that plan.

CCWSA wants to remain in downtown Canton, Heard reiterated. In 2014, the agency purchased the former Regions Bank building and relocated its main operations to those offices.

Heard said he has not received any calls or questions about the authority’s decisions to demolish the house.

“I don’t like doing that,” he said, referring to the demolition. “We looked at trying to repair it, but it was past that point.”

---

Images via Cherokee County Historical Society.