Sometimes you happen to be in the right place at the right time. That is what happened to me earlier this week. Mark Robillard was standing in front of downtown Canton's newest building. He is the architect. It has been named 151 Main. Naturally, it is at 151 Main St.

Like many of you, I had been wondering what the building was going to look like inside. So, when Mark offered me a tour of the building, I quickly took him up on it. With 24,000 Class A square feet, it is most impressive. Going inside, we stepped into an elegant lobby. The flooring is marble with beautiful wood accent panels. One of my favorite features is the third-floor balcony. It may not look big from the street, but it is much larger than I expected. From there you get a full view of downtown Canton.

The owners, Aurelius Holdings and Highridge Partners, Inc., anticipated what could have been a problem and have taken care of it. 151 Main has parking in the rear. Some of it is covered parking.

Canton old-timers know the history of the site. Ken Mize is one of them. He remembers when there was a bowling alley there and later Cantex, a three-story building. It burned in 1955 in a fire reminiscent of the recent fire in downtown Canton . Since then, it has been a vacant lot.

You may have noticed that the windows of 151 Main are temporarily covered while the building is being completed. If you have looked closely, you may have seen that the coverings are pictures taken in the '50s when the site was a bowling alley.

Ken Mize identified most of the people in the windows on the first floor as Charles Graham, Hunter Ingram, Gene Fowler, Billy King, Alton Edwards, Paul Hudgins, Young Smith, James Wynn, Donald Cain and Russell Massey.

Mark Robillard worked with the City of Canton to design the building to fit in with the existing downtown buildings. As the architect for the Canton Family YMCA, Booth Western Museum in Cartersville, Ball Ground City Hall and the renovation of the former First Baptist Church for Canton City Hall, he has an abundance of experience.

The first job Robillard Architects had in Cherokee County was the Hickory Flat branch of the Bank of Canton. Mark, a talented artist, drew the architect's rendering himself. When presented to Ed McFather, the CEO and president, Ed leaned back and laughed aloud. Mark had drawn Ed, Steve Holcombe and himself in front of the building. All of them are easily recognizable. Also included in the rendering are Mark's wife, Tammy, and their sons, John Mark and Tyler. Another Bank of Canton official in the drawing is Mark Walker.

I am always interested in knowing why people came to Cherokee County. Mark and Tammy's story is an interesting one.

Mark's father was in the military for 34 years. The family moved around frequently. Mark spent some of his high school years in Hawaii. A high school drop-out, his father rose to the rank of senior master sergeant. After retiring, he went back to school. First, he got his GED. Then he completed college earning a Bachelor of Science degree.

Mark's parents met in England. They have four children: three boys and one girl.

All are college graduates.

When Mark talks about his college years, he talks about Peru, Ind., and Muncie, Ind. Peru is known as the winter home of both Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circuses. He is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie. Mark pointed out that Ball State is named for the Ball brothers who perfected Ball canning jars. The business expanded into many areas including space exploration. They were involved in founding the college and made huge financial contributions.

Mark and Tammy dated in high school and in college. They were married after they graduated from college. They wanted to live in Denver, Houston or Atlanta. The deciding factor was that Tammy got a job teaching math at Cherokee High. Mark describes Tammy as the brainy one and himself as the artsy one.

She was hired sight unseen by then principal Dr. Edwin Casey. A group of students came to Atlanta to interview for teaching jobs. Today, we would call that a job fair. He was needing a math teacher. Something happened that kept Dr. Casey from going. So, he interviewed her on the telephone. It was a good day for Tammy, Dr. Casey and Cherokee High when he offered and she accepted the job.

One of the things people are wondering is what will be in 151 Main when it opens in the near future.

The owners will be the first tenants. They are moving their offices into half of the space on the third floor. They are expecting others to want office space in the building with its high-speed elevator and elaborate security system.

And, just in case someone wants to open a restaurant or two there, Mark Robillard included a grease trap in the design.

Marguerite Cline is the former mayor of Waleska and a former county school superintendent.