Old Post Office Significant Piece of Downtown Architecture

Written by: Cheri Bedford

The Post office is a significant piece of architecture for our downtown.

Downtown cannot afford to have another unoccupied building. The downtown represents the core of our community.

It is my opinion that this would not be in anyone’s best interest, and it definitely not being  good stewardship of our resources.    This building and other buildings in downtown represent the fabric of our town history.  To allow such a special use building to be abandon would be crippling our Main Street efforts. It goes against all we have been working for in our downtown and for our city and county.

I might add that there are numerous amounts of money being invested in our downtown on a monthly basis. I currently track the investments and reinvestments of our downtown on a quarterly basis, and this past year alone there has been over $120,000 invested in our historic district either on the façade’s and streetscape projects in the historic district.

Historic preservation is a means of economic development. All elements of design, promotion, organization and economic restructuring is vital to make this happen.  The old post office fits into the design of our downtown.- That is why the Main Street  Program involves the community. And this community does care about downtown. The evidence in the number of volunteers who assist with programs is just one example.  When other downtowns are floundering, our downtown, even with its challenges is thriving. These buildings were built to last, this one was built in 1919 and added to in 1924? Yes they have problems, Neglect is one of the biggest.

This building was renovated to handle every service the courthouse did while the current courthouse was under  restoration. I was wondering if other options to take care of the concerns expressed in regards to the proper utilization of space inside could be investigated instead of abandonment.

I hope that this decision will be reconsidered.

 

 

Cheri Bedford

Main Street Coordinator

City of Paris

903.784.9293

cbedford@paristexas.gov

 

“A community vision is an expression of possibility, an ideal future state that the community hopes to attain. Such a vision must be shared by the entire community so that it is truly owned by all — so that it is “ours” in the inclusive sense.”
From The Community Visioning and Strategic Planning Handbook