James Mitchell, Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center Manage
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center opens to the public for the first time on Monday, December 4. Constructed at 2051 Lower Roswell Road on the site of the former East Marietta Library inside Sewell Park, the Sewell Mill Center is a joint use facility of the Cobb County Public Library System and Cobb County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department (PARKS).
“We’re opening with great excitement and tremendous energy,” said Sewell Mill Library Manager James Mitchell, the librarian credited with developing the concept for the facility offering space for people of all ages to develop and practice artistic skills.
Reading Room
Library and PARKS officials are reaching out to organizations – public and independent schools, arts organizations and more – throughout Cobb County as part of a strategy to offer creative space for engaging the community. “Community participation is vital for making Sewell Mill a destination for all of Cobb County,” Mitchell said. “We are very open to community input on how to shape the programs offered and events staged at Sewell Mill.”
The 28,000-square-foot Sewell Mill facility includes unique children and teen spaces, study rooms, recording studios, a conference room, a digital maker space commons, a community room, an art gallery and art classrooms, an outdoor amphitheater and a black box theater.
Helen Poyer, Cobb County Library Director
“Sewell Mill is decidedly about creative space and collaboration, from individuals concentrating on expressing their artistic skills to crowds enjoying musical and theatrical performances alongside traditional library space,” said Cobb County Library Director Helen Poyer. “This is a major and unique community asset that all of Cobb County will be proud to use and visit.”
A range of programs for Sewell Mill are scheduled for the next several months, including free musical performances, writers group meetings, photography classes, and screenings of classic films, Mitchell said. The library’s Sewell Mill events schedule is posted at www.cobbcat.org.
Children’s Area
The location is the site of the East Marietta Library, which was closed in mid-November after 50 years and demolished. The former library site has been cleared and will be turned into the entrance and parking space for the Sewell Mill facility and Sewell Park.
Bruce Thompson, Sewell Mill Branch Manager
The design-build contactor for the $10.6 million Sewell Mill project is Batson-Cook Company and CAS Architecture. Funding included $8.6 million from Cobb County’s 2016 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and $2 million from the Georgia Board of Regents.
For more information about Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, call 770-509-2711.
This article originally appeared in the December issue of the EAST COBBER magazine, on page 16. Click HERE to access the digital edition.
