The 83-year-old United States Post Office, located at 524 Main St., is instantly recognizable by its historic look. That look, however, is in need of a slight touchup following damage that occurred recently.
On Sept. 23, a piece of the facade across the top of the front side of the building fell.
The area was roped off and remains that way to ensure the safety of the public, said Debra Jean Fetterly, USPS spokesperson for the Alabama-Mississippi District. Service has not been affected though, and the post office remains open for regular hours.
However, the fix is not as simple as hiring a contractor and repairing the damage. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of the, “Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation,” according to the National Park Services website.
With this distinction comes a set of regulations that must be strictly adhered to when doing work on protected sites.
The main focus of these guidelines, which are in “The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties With Guidelines For Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Buildings,” is maintaining the “historic character” of the property. This means the work done has to match the existing details.
Fetterly said that a contractor has not been chosen for the project yet, but the one that is chosen will have knowledge of the process and how to properly manage a project on a historical property.
She also said this is the first time this has happened, but steps will be taken to make sure it is an isolated incident.
“The contractor will be working to ensure that the exterior is restored and that the structure is sound,” she said.
Construction on the Main Street Post Office began in 1937 and was completed in 1939, according to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History website. It was designed by Rudolph Stanley-Brown, an architect from Washington, D.C.
It was placed on the national register in April 1983 along with several other post offices that were built between 1931 and 1941.
The building is significant, according to the register entry, because it has served as a post office since its construction.
The registry lists the two story building as having “Greek Revival stylistic character,” with a brick exterior with white stone trim and a pitched copper roof. The lobby consists of marble flooring, marble wainscot and plaster. The overall structure is made up of steel and reinforced concrete.
“The Courthouse, the City Hall, and this Post Office represent the three most significant governmental public buildings in the community,” reads the historic registry nomination form.
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