Sen. Jon Ossoff visits Savannah's Oglethorpe Mall library, touts funds for new branch

"The new Oglethorpe Mall Library is now funded," declared United States Senator Jon Ossoff on Friday afternoon, referring to the $3 million in federal appropriations he helped secure for Live Oak Public Libraries' (LOPL) long-awaited new Oglethorpe Mall Branch. The new facilit will be built within Eisenhower Square at 1100 Eisenhow Drive across from the Chatham County Citizen Service Center.

A March 29 press release from Ossoff's office noted that "the current Oglethorpe Mall Library was built in 1978 without functioning central heating, leading to closures on days when temperatures drop below freezing. The library has not undergone a significant renovation since its construction, and according to local officials, the elevator breaks down frequently, making it non-ADA compliant." The library's funding challenges and ongoing issues were also previously reported by the Savannah Morning News (SMN) on March 19.

The $3 million in federal funds was necessary to move the project forward, even though it had secured $5.5 million in local Chatham County funding in 2015 and an additional $3 million from Georgia's state budget secured during the latest legislative session. The state funds were procured largely due to efforts made by Georgia State Senator Derek Mallow.

With $11.5 million in total set aside for the new library, the project can finally get underway. LOPL Executive Director Lola Shelton-Council said that agreements are being worked out with the three funding entities at the local, state and federal level. Once completed, LOPL can then revisit concept designs originally drafted by GMShay Architects and put out requests for proposals (RFPs) from firms prior to breaking ground. She estimated that the building could be open within three years.

Ossoff highlights 'team effort' to fund the library

Ossoff spoke Friday before a crowd consisting of LOPL staff and board members, Chatham County Board of Commissioners Chairman Chester Ellis, Savannah District 5 Alderwoman Estalla Shabazz, District 4 Alderman Nick Palumbo, and Savannah-Chatham School Board President Roger Moss as well as Georgia State Representative Edna Jackson.

Ossoff touted the infrastructure law that Congress recently passed as a bipartisan effort that would strengthen coastal Georgia's economic development. "Today, we are here to celebrate together this team effort to support quality of life and education for Savannah families, Chatham County families and the families of Liberty and Effingham counties that will be served by this new library," he said.

He emphasized that his desire to prioritize the library in the federal budget was made clear through "the depth of united local support." He cited the local, state and federal officials who worked together to amass funds that could provide a "world-class" facility in the region that the community deserved.

Ossoff then welcomed Mallow up to speak about his own bipartisan effort at the state level. Mallow said, "We tried to secure this funding for the library many times and we were unsuccessful," he said. That was until, as previously reported by SMN, he redeveloped his pitch and took it t to chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Blake Tillery and Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, both who listened and acknowledged the need. Mallow added that the Oglthorpe Mall library was only one funded in the amended Georgia General Assembly budget for this year.

Live Oak Libraries: After 16-year wait, County library system secures state funds to replace Oglethorpe Mall branch

Sixteen years and $6 million later...

LOPL first began the process to address the Oglethorpe Mall Branch's issues in 2008. According to Shelton-Council, LOPL had obtained the initial $5.5 million through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds. Chatham County Public Information Director Catherine Glasby confirmed that the funding "was in SPLOST 6 which was on the ballot for November 5, 2023 and the referendum period was October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2020."

The county had purchased the Eisenhower Drive site on August 9, 2022 for the proposed 24,000-square-foot library as well as some additional county facilities.

As far as the facility itself, the price tag on materials has increased since its initial inception due to ongoing supply chain issues caused largely by the COVID-19 pandemic, which are still being felt today.

Mallow said it was great to be awarded the state's $3 million but even better to have a federal partner to help match "what you're short" since the state wanted to know where the rest of the money would come from. "Chairman Ellis said he had it [the money]...we didn't quite know where it was coming from but glad to know that Senator Ossoff was able to get this over the finish line."

Ossoff's visit was part of a trip focused on federal infrastructure development in the Savannah area, which includes the new library. Prior to speaking in front of the outdate Oglethorpe Mall Branch, he had spent time this morning with Savannah/Hilton Head Airport leaders, discussing terminal and capacity expansion.

Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Ossoff secured $3 million in federal funding for Savannah library