Restoration, expansion program to begin
Osgood Public Library gets grant
Cathy May - Contributing Writer

The last piece of the puzzle is now in place for the Osgood Public Library to begin its restoration and expansion project. The Department of Commerce awarded a $450,000 Community Focus Fund grant to the library for the renovation of the existing historic Carnegie Library.

The library is also building a 7,200 square foot extension. The total cost of the project will be $1,950,000. There will be a $1,325,000 bond issue. The Gilmore and Golda Reynolds Foundation has committed $125,000 a year for ten years to the project to pay off the bonds. An additional $50,000 has been obtained from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation.

The Osgood Public Library was built in 1914. It was one of 164 Carnegie Libraries built in Indiana between 1901 and 1922. There were a total of 2,900 built in the US, with the most in Indiana.

The architectural firm of Veazay, Parrott, Durkin and Shoulders out of Indianapolis, designed the expansion and renovation. Victor Landfair will be the Project Architect. It is hoped that the project will move quickly now and ground can be broken this year. Several representatives from the Osgood Library attended the Department of Commerce award presentation which was held in Indianapolis on June 24.

The Community Focus Fund is a federally funded grant program administered by the Indiana Department of Commerce. Funding is available to small cities, towns and counties for construction projects designed to benefit low-to-moderate-income areas. Projects eligible for CFF grants include local infrastructure improvements, childcare facilities, senior and community centers, downtown revitalization and fire stations and fire trucks. Up to $500,000 is available per applicant. In this round of funding, 37 Hoosier communities shared in nearly $15 million in funding. The Osgood Public Library was the only library to receive funds in this round.

Other communities in the area that received grants include:

· Dillsboro, who received $450,000 for a project that would make improvements to the wastewater collection system and construction of a new treatment plant;

· Vernon, in Jennings County was given $300,000 to improve their wastewater collection system;

· Greensburg received $379,100 for expansion of a work facility for people with disabilities,

* Madison received $362,713 for the rehabilitation of the historic AME building;

· St. Paul in Decatur County received $110,000 towards the purchase of a new tanker truck;

· Switzerland County received $290,070 for the extension of their sewer system to unserved areas; and

· Laurel in Franklin County was awarded $500,000 for the construction of the new town fire station.