Lavonia Looking at Landscaping Around Historic Cannery

Whether to repave or landscape some vacant space around the historic Lavonia Cannery is under consideration by the Lavonia City Council.

The City has been working to restore the building inside and out since taking it over from the Franklin County School Board last year.

At their work session this week, the council heard one from City Manager Gary Fesperman who proposed eliminating the broken and overgrown asphalt driveway around the cannery.

The problem Fesperman said is the way the driveway was constructed, water is flowing down into the building.

Fesperman also noted the back area where lockers were once located is not useable for a parking area.

One way Fesperman said the City could eliminate that water problem and make use of the old locker area is to simply eliminate that driveway.

Fesperman noted there are two doors on the other side that people could use.

And he said the city would then completely resurface the parking lot between the Cannery and the Community Center to make it more functional for both buildings.

But Councilman Harold Harbin noted the convenience of the old drive-around system and suggested before the City move forward with any plan, they ask the School Board for their input.

The School system still uses the back cannery area for three weeks out of the year.

No decision was made and the Council plans to discuss the matter again at their regular meeting next week.