Renovations to Lavonia Historic Cannery Complete

After over a year of renovations, work to repair and restore the Historic Lavonia Cannery should be completed this week.

At the Lavonia City Council meeting Monday evening, City Manager Gary Fesperman went over the punch list with the council and Mayor Ralph Owens .

“The floors have been totally redone, the lights have been replaced, all of the rooms have been repainted, the chalk boards have been restored,” Fesperman said. “We’re in the process of completing several other minor items.”

The County had been owned for years by the Franklin County Board of Education and operated by the High School Agriculture program.

They open it to the public every summer for two weeks and can and jar vegetables and fruits.

However, the Board of Ed could not afford to keep the rest of the building in good repair and over the years the front offices and classrooms along with the roof and other parts of the building deteriorated.

Then early last year, the City of Lavonia took the building over from the School System with a view towards making those repairs and utilizing the front part of the building.

However, the City was not able to get grant funding from the State or other sources to help with the repairs.

So, the City took the money from its budget as finances allowed and gradually restored the building in phases.

Fesperman said Monday now the Cannery looks better than it has in years.

“It has really turned out way beyond any of our expectations,” he said. “We’re so proud of the way the building has turned out.”

Fesperman said Joe Rothwell at the Georgia Regional Commission has indicated he plans to nominate the Cannery for a national historic preservation award.