Savannah’s Carnegie Library Uses Cooperative JOC to Restore and Reopen

Challenge: Landmark’s Renovation Costs Exceed Budget

Savannah, Georgia’s historic Carnegie Library opened in 1914, during the dark days of American segregation when the local African American community was denied access to the city’s only public library. The original library was conceived of and underwritten by leading African American Savannahians with support from the Carnegie Corporation.

As a circulating library and neighborhood hub, the Carnegie Library served as an incubator of African American achievement frequented by future mayors, state government reps, business leaders and even a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. It served to anchor Savannah’s African American community before and after integration.

Carnegie joined the Live Oak Public Library system in the mid-1960’s, and along with traditional library services, it continued to serve as a community hub, providing programs for area students and adults and even meals for children in the summertime. But the 110 years since the library opened have not been a bed of roses.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the library “endured the ravages of time and neglect, threats of permanent closure, book thieves [and] unfulfilled political promises.” 2024 brought another immense challenge in the form of Tropical Storm Debby, which wrought relentless and crippling flooding that caved the downstairs flooring and caused the building to shift. With the interior and exterior requiring a complete rebuild, the Carnegie Library, a community landmark for over a century, was ultimately and unfortunately closed.

The building had remained unoccupied since the August 2024 storm, while funding passed through several approval processes. Once funding was secured, the Carnegie Library solicited project bids. However, the bids exceeded the library’s budget, leaving facilities leaders searching for a project delivery method that afforded them more cost control.

Solution: Gordian’s Cooperative JOC Offers Speed, Cost Control

Micheal Summers, Live Oak Public Library’s Director of Construction and Facilities, leaned on his experience to find a way to deliver the rebuild. During his days working at Savannah State University, he used Gordian’s Cooperative Job Order Contracting (JOC) often. In fact, he still had a relationship with his local Gordian representative and access to a statewide Cooperative JOC contract via the Georgia Department of Administrative Services.

Opting to deliver the project via Cooperative JOC gave the Carnegie Library two distinct advantages. The first is speed to construction, which was crucial given how long the building had been closed.

Cooperative JOC enables organizations to accelerate project starts because the contract is construction-ready. Terms and conditions are set. Contractors have been vetted and awarded. Most importantly, the Construction Task Catalog®, a Unit Price Book filled with preset prices researched and validated by Gordian’s experts, is in place. This leads us to the second advantage Cooperative JOC offered to the Carnegie Library: Cost control.

With prices published and shared in the CTC, owners can see the sources of their biggest costs. Furthermore, all Job Order Contracting programs are performance-based, meaning a contractor’s ability to be awarded a future project depends on their performance on their present project. This creates incentives to act as good partners and find ways to stretch the project’s budget.

Result: A Community Anchor Restored

Live Oak Public Library awarded the renovation of the Carnegie Library to Johnson-Laux Construction, an experienced and accomplished JOC contractor that has completed several high-profile projects for the City of Atlanta, including building a memorial to the victims of the Atlanta Child Murders.

Work on the library began in mid-July 2025. Johnson-Laux laid a new foundation to stabilize the structure. They also installed a new stormwater management system to mitigate future flooding. The renovation finished in late December and totaled just over $1 million, well within the project budget.

The Carnegie Library project not only saved a historic landmark, but it also returned a community anchor to active service, ensuring its legacy for future generations. Part library, part museum, part meeting place, the library’s significance to the community cannot be overstated.

As Micheal Summers, Live Oak Public Library Director of Construction and Facilities explained, “When I started working on this project, I knew it went beyond restoring and preserving a historic building. Generations of African American Savannahians are connected to this place. It was important to have construction partners that would provide the level of quality and professionalism that this restoration and the community deserved.”

Lola DeWitt, Executive Director of Live Oak Public Libraries, echoed those sentiments. “The reimagined Carnegie Library Heritage Center is protecting and preserving a beautiful building that at one time was the only space for community, learning and education for generations of Black Savannahians. It celebrates the impact of Black Savannahians and those in the greater Savannah area. The mission of the Carnegie Library Heritage Center is to ensure the stories and history of black people are not erased and continue to be told in this very special place.”

Given its importance to Savannah’s history and the project’s demonstration of JOC best practices, Gordian awarded the Carnegie Library Heritage Center and Johnson-Laux Construction with a 2025 Award of Merit in Job Order Contracting.