Canton is preparing to turn one of its most flood-prone, long-neglected buildings into something it has rarely been in decades — useful. 

Once the project is complete, the aging structure at 225 Park St. will become a flexible, flood-adapted gathering space designed not just to survive the next storm but to anchor a broader transformation already reshaping the surrounding blocks. 

A leaked draft of the FEMA Review Council’s final report on reform of the disaster response agency appears to shift considerable burden onto states, local governments, tribes and territories (SLTTs) while slashing the agency’s workforce by 50%, positioning federal response in the rear and largely ignoring requests to send recovery funding down to the county level.

Just two days before the three-year anniversary of the announcement that the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in Canton would close, Canton’s governing board took a decisive step toward securing both its wastewater infrastructure and its economic future by approving a complex land purchase that will place key portions of the former paper mill site under municipal control.

As the sun set over Canton on Feb. 11, the scene at the town’s makeshift municipal building more closely resembled that of a trendy big-city nightclub. More than 100 people had lined up outside, hoping to join the other 49 people who’d pushed the modular double-wide’s fire code to its absolute limit by making it inside. Their minds weren’t focused on drinks or dancing, but instead on data — Big Data, and its effect on small towns. 

Canton’s election carried the weight of four turbulent years — a pandemic, a devastating flood, the closure of its largest employer and Hurricane Helene’s destruction.

After Brevard-based Domokur + Associates outlined a plan to complete design and construction management services for rebuilding and renovating several cabins at Camp Hope, which was heavily damaged during flooding from Tropical Storm Fred in 2021. The Town of Canton is poised to take another step toward restoring one of its most cherished public spaces. 

When the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in Canton closed after more than a century of operations in June 2023, the shockwaves went far beyond the hundreds of workers who lost their jobs.

Anyone who’s been through the eastern part of Haywood County, even just driving toward Buncombe County on I-40 has likely seen — or smelled — the smoke. 

The Two Banks Development mulch fire in Canton is nothing new. But as communities surrounding TBD’s landfill continue to be impacted, it seems that neither the problem nor the solution are as simple — or risk-free — as they might’ve first appeared. 

Canton’s toilets will continue to flush thanks to an agreement born of urgency but put on paper with cooperation and cautious optimism.

The Town of Canton is currently wrestling with one of the ugliest budget conundrums in decades due to a combination of natural and human-caused disasters, the general unsustainability of the American health care coverage system and a colossal mistake by a contracted service provider.