In the 1920s, a future president who had lost the use of his legs to polio invested two-thirds of his savings into a quiet patch of Georgia countryside, because the warm mineral springs there gave him something no doctor could: a little more strength in his legs, and a lot more hope. In 1927 Franklin D. Roosevelt founded what became the country’s premier polio rehabilitation center. Nearly a hundred years later, it is still doing the work he started, for a new generation.
Today, Roosevelt Warm Springs is a National Historic Landmark and one of Georgia’s vocational rehabilitation campuses, operated by the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. Across a 900-acre campus, young adults with disabilities train for real careers in hospitality, logistics, retail, auto detailing, and healthcare, and get help landing the job when they finish. It is a place built on a simple, stubborn idea: that with the right support, independence and meaningful work are within reach for everyone.
A renovation with a mission
Johnson Construction Group is proud to have recently completed a comprehensive commercial renovation at Roosevelt Warm Springs. This was not a paint-and-carpet job. Our team delivered a full interior transformation from demolition through final closeout: new framing and drywall, ceilings and lighting, flooring, cabinetry and countertops, tile, and paint, backed by upgraded electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fire protection, and data and communications systems, plus a new exterior canopy. As a state project delivered to public construction standards, it carried the full weight of formal submittals, inspections, commissioning, and a five-year bond on the work, all managed start to finish by our team.
The centerpiece: a hospitality training lab
The space pictured here is a new upstairs Hospitality Lab. It is a real working training environment, a full bar, a service kitchen, dining setup, and coffee and catering stations, where students in the hospitality pathway learn the trade with their hands, the same way our crews learned theirs. Down the hall, we turned offices and support spaces into clean, modern, functional rooms ready for staff and students.
There is a particular kind of pride that comes from building a place where someone will learn a skill that changes their life. We build custom homes and commercial projects across metro Atlanta and west Georgia, and we treat every one like it matters. This one mattered a little more.
To the staff and students at Roosevelt Warm Springs: thank you for letting us be a small part of a big mission. Nearly a century after Franklin Roosevelt first believed this place could change lives, it still does, and we are honored that our work will help it keep doing exactly that.
Johnson Construction Group is a woman-owned general contractor based in Newnan, Georgia, building custom homes, additions, and commercial projects across metro Atlanta and west Georgia. See more of our work at jcgbuild.com.
