Long-awaited renovations at a popular Augusta library are hoped to begin soon as the building approaches 200 years old.
A $1.06 million bid award to Horizon Construction and Associates for construction services at the Appleby Branch Library was set for final approval last week.
The award and over 50 other agenda items remain on hold, however, until the Augusta Commission agrees on how to balance the 2026 city budget.
The project, led overall by Studio 3 Design Group, aims to update the circa-1830 Greek Revival home throughout the building’s basement, first and second floors, according to procurement documents.
The renovated spaces are expected to include the entry hall, circulation area, two reading rooms, a computer lab and break room on the first floor. Second-floor renovations will feature a meeting room, dedicated children’s room and multiple book storage areas.
A key aspect of the project is ensuring modern accessibility, a concern the library system has long delayed addressing. Plans call for installation of an elevator, as well as restrooms and a water cooler compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
On the exterior, all siding, soffits, trim and columns will be thoroughly cleaned and painted and deteriorated sections replaced with in-kind materials. Wood shutters must be repaired and repainted to match.
While the Augusta-RIchmond County Public Library System is feeling the pinch of city cost-cutting measures, the state will reimburse up to $900,000 of the renovation, System Director Emanuel Sinclair Mitchell told commissioners.
At the same time, Mitchell said if the system is dealt a 10% city budget cut, it may have to shutter a branch, likely the one at Diamond Lakes Regional Park, in addition to reducing operating hours and eliminating part-time positions at other libraries.
The home at the corner of Walton Way and Johns Road was built as the summer residence of Judge Benjamin Holmes Warren. Its north and south facades feature six two-story fluted Doric columns.
After Warren, the house belonged to members of the Montgomery family for several decades and served as home to two Augusta mayors. Scott B. Appleby purchased the home in 1928 and his son, James Scott Appleby donated the house in honor of his mother, Annie De Prairie, in 1954 to the Augusta City Council for use as a library.
