Is Bethel Christian Academy for sale or not?

Feb. 3—CANTON — The Canton town board is pursuing a plan to convert flood-prone property in downtown Canton to park land, but the key component is buying and demolishing Bethel Christian Academy — something that's created a bit of a stir.

Bethel Christian Academy is the focal point of the "Mill Town Strong Park Conversion Project," a plan unveiled during a Canton town board meeting last week. The town board voted to pursue a $6.7 million FEMA grant to buy and demolish the private school and create a park in its place.

But there's just one problem. It's unclear whether Bethel Christian Academy wants to part with the property.

Some involved with Bethel Christian Academy and Bethel Baptist Church say there's no intention to sell the school building on Park Street. Others say there was a church vote to sell the property long before the 2021 flood, and that the building has always been for sale.

As for the town of Canton, Mayor Zeb Smathers said he has no opinion on whether the church should sell the property should the grant comes through.

"All the town of Canton has done is make an application for a grant that covers several businesses," Smathers said. "They can take advantage of an offer or not. Our job is to do all we can to give businesses the opportunity to get as much value as they can out of their property."

Pastor Roy Kilby, who leads Bethel Baptist Missionary Church in Bethel, expressed surprise when contacted by The Mountaineer about plans for the Bethel Christian Academy, which is owned by the church.

"The building is not for sale, and why they wouldn't contact us is unknown to me," Kilby said. "This is the first I've heard of it. This is absurd. It's no business of the town of Canton. It is private property and it does not belong to them."

For Kilby, the decision to keep the building comes down to the simple issue of good versus evil.

"It's right against wrong," Kilby said. "When we have property paid for that's up to date, passing all the legal codes and standards, why is this causing such a brouhaha? This is good versus evil, and we're standing on the right side."

The school site has sports fields used by community youth athletic groups, and also houses the church's family life center. If there is interest in cleaning up the town, it would be better to get rid of the breweries instead of a good Christian school, Kilby said.

"The Lord controls the floods anyway. If we sell the building, it won't change whether we get a rain," Kilby said.

When asked if the property was part of the FEMA buyout for home and business owners interested in selling their properties to the federal government, Kilby said it wasn't.

"That would have taken a vote from the church to have done that, and we had not voted to do that. We may have talked to someone who suggested it, but there was no affirmative action," he said.

Kilby is the lone representative listed on nonprofit filings with the N.C. Secretary of State for Bethel Family Ministries, which operates Bethel Christian Academy.

Bobby Shelton, head of the deacons at Bethel Baptist and a coach at Bethel Christian Academy, likewise expressed surprise that the school may be sold and demolished.

"We've heard rumors, but FEMA backed out," he said. "Nobody presented anything to us, so as far as I'm concerned, it's not for sale."

He made it clear he was communicating his own opinion, not that of the board, however.

If the building was bought, Shelton questioned whether it would be enough to rebuild elsewhere.

"It would take a significant amount of money for us to build a building. We have the property, but it would take a lot to replace a 50,000-square-foot building. We use all of it," Shelton said.

Between 90-100 students attend the K-12 academy, he said. The bottom level has 12 to 15 classrooms, while the main floor has a basketball stadium that can hold 700, along with another five to six classrooms.

Bethel Christian Academy started on the campus of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, but moved to Canton in 2002, occupying the former Champion YMCA building. The church bought the 5.5 acre site and building for $400,000. The property has a value of $3.25 million, according to county tax rolls.

Students at the academy moved into the Bethel church following 2021 flood while the school was being repaired.

Shelton said it cost $300,000 to clean up after the last flood, with only a small portion covered by insurance. In addition, the church also put a new roof on the building, which cost about $100,000, he said.

Misunderstanding

Tommy Long, who is president of the church corporation (and also a county commissioner) contacted The Mountaineer to explain where the miscommunication may have started.

Well before the Tropical Storm Fred, which hit in August 2021, flooded Bethel Christian Academy for the third time in 20 years, there was a church wide vote — one that was conducted exactly as set forth in the bylaws.

At the time, there was overwhelming support to sell the Canton property where the academy was located. The church signed a contract with Keller-Williams to market it, but when the time ran out, it was decided to rely on leads that came in on their own.

The church has allowed Bethel Christian Academy to use property rent free since it was purchased.

Long said once the congregation voted to sell the property, that was the direction the deacons pursued — and will continue doing unless there is a vote that reverses the decision.

Long said the church-wide vote covered the decision to apply for the FEMA buyout, and also the second option that arose through resiliency program to purchase the property at market value.

"Deacons have to fulfill the will of the church," Long said. "We aren't dictators and must do church business as directed by the church body."

Kilby said it was his understanding that once the real estate contract wasn't renewed, the property was off the market, however.

Regardless, unless the grant comes through and an actual purchase offer materializes, the church and Bethel Christian Academy will go on as usual, Kilby said. Both the school and the family life center located in the building are in excellent shape, serve the wider community and will continue doing so. Should there be another flood, Kilby is convinced the church will do as it always has, clean things up and move on.

The project

The concept of the project to convert flood-prone properties into parkland was unveiled at the Canton town board meeting last Thursday. Details of the $6.7 million improvement and enhancement project were presented by Travis Klondike, project leader with N.C. State Coastal Dynamics Design Lab.

The firm is helping Haywood County address flood issues. Haywood County commissioners enlisted the firm last year to create an actionable plan with strategies to respond, rebuild and prepare for living with floods. Part of the plan was to examine the best uses for flood-prone areas to prevent them becoming nuisances. The plan was done pro bono at no cost to the county.

The "Mill Town Strong Park Conversion Project" includes three actions: to acquire property in the floodway, demolish the buildings, and replace them with a open space that would be able to absorb flood waters. The strategy was used in Clyde after the 2004 flooding, resulting in Riverside Park which successfully mitigated major flooding in 2021.

The town board voted to approve the $6.7 million FEMA grant application that would initiate the plan starting with Bethel Christian Academ. The grant would require a 10% match of the project cost by the town, which would be $600,000. Klondike said the town would have an excellent chance of getting its match share covered through other grants.

The project involving the Bethel Christian site is ranked fifth in North Carolina in this particular FEMA program, which means it has an excellent chance of being funded.

That's because it covers the top grant criteria, Long explained, because it is in an economically depressed community, is in the floodway — an area that is sure to flood during major storm events — and because there is a potential for a loss of life given the number of classrooms now operating on the lower level, which is 13 feet below the 100-year flood level.

Town board members discussed the financial responsibilities associated with the grant and voted to proceed after representatives from Coastal Dynamics Design Lab discussed their track record in finding matching grants in other communities that would offset the local match.