FREE Online Forum - Historic Post Office Closures
Thursday, November 8, 2012
12:00-1:00 PM
California Preservation Foundation, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Los Angeles Conservancy are offering a FREE online forum.
Due to deep budget deficits, the U.S. Postal Service plans to close, relocate, or downsize numerous post offices throughout the country. Many of California’s Historic Post Offices will be impacted by this and some have already been affected. The process for the sale of post offices has been confusing and unclear. Hear about what has occurred to date across the country and the process for closure and relocation and how you and your organization can get involved. Also, hear about lessons learned from recent Post Offices closures in California.
This online forum is free and open to the public. The format will include a presentation by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, California Preservation Foundation, and the Los Angeles Conservancy followed by time for questions and answers. If you have a specific question to submit ahead of time, please email it to Jennifer Gates at [email protected].
For additional information or questions please contact California Preservation Foundation at
[email protected] or call 415-495-0349.
I think it is horrible that postal workers may loose their jobs.
However, I think the day that building is razed, within a week, no one will remember what was there, let alone history. I love what Mr. Cohen does. Without him a lot of important history would have been lost, as well as reasons people want to live in Burlingame.(Property Value)
I do not think this PO is worth the effort. With the exception of what little Art Deco interior may be salvaged.
Fight the Good Fight Mr. Cohen!
Posted by: Holyroller | November 01, 2012 at 04:05 PM
What exactly makes it historic? Is it the age or did something specifically happen there? Is it the original post office of Burlingame? I would love to see somethng replace it that would become the future historic building. A theater is my favorite suggestion.
Posted by: Jeriann Fleres | November 06, 2012 at 07:45 PM
The first post office in Burlingame was in the main railroad station. By 1927-28, it was located at 355 Primrose, in a structure that is barely recognizable today (to the right of Barracuda).
Here is a little descriptive blurb (by Carey and Company architectural historians) 220 Park Road, published in 2007-8.
"The United States Post Office in Burlingame sits on a rectangular parcel bounded by Lorton Avenue to the northeast and Park Road to the southwest. The painted concrete building has a rectangular plan and a flat roof with a parapet. Two wings with clay tile-clad shed roofs extend
northeast and southwest from the building. Entrances with metal double doors and a transom containing a decorative metal eagle are located adjacent to each wing. A large relief of a woman sits above each entrance. A garage addition constructed of CMUs with three bays and a flat roof extends northwest from the post office. The primary window type is metal-sash awning windows arranged in two vertical rows of five or six windows. A small relief depicting an eagle is located under each window on the northeast and southwest façades. Burlingame’s post office was constructed in 1941 under the direction of the Federal Works Administration. Supervising architect Louis A. Simon, who had been appointed to the position in 1934, and consulting architect Ulysses Floyd Rible oversaw the building’s design. From 1934 to 1939, the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, which had been established in
1853, designed all Federal buildings, including post offices. Although the Treasury Department reversed this policy in 1939 and began selecting private architects through regional competitions for certain projects, the supervising architect continued to oversee the design of many post
offices. In 1939 the Office of the Supervising Architect was also transferred to the Federal Works Agency, although its function remained essentially the same. Around this time, federally designed buildings were designed in a greater stylistic range that the dominant Beaux-Arts
classicism. Instead of displaying national trends, post office buildings began to reflect regional characteristics. The Burlingame Post office’s stucco cladding and clay tile roof reflect the Spanish Eclectic style then popular in California. The building also incorporates Art Deco elements,
including the stylized reliefs found throughout its exterior. Simon incorporated less decoration than previous supervising architects and tended to use Art Deco-inspired motifs. Despite the addition of the garage, the building appears to retain a high level of integrity, including its plan, cladding, fenestration, and plaster motifs. Burlingame’s post office appears to be eligible for listing in the California and National Registers under Criterion C/3 as a distinct example of Art Deco style architecture and representing a transition toward a broader stylistic range, including Art Deco, in the design of federal post offices starting in 1934 under Louis Simon."
Posted by: jennifer | November 07, 2012 at 11:29 AM