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SFGate - Historic Napa post office going on auction block

August 7, 2015
News Articles

Steve Rubenstein

The historic Napa post office, extensively damaged in the 2014 earthquake, will be offered for sale instead of being demolished, the U.S. Postal Service has announced.

The Art Deco building, commissioned in 1933, will be prepared for auction later this month with the stipulation that the buyer must repair the building before converting it to another use, according to a letter to the city from Rep Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.

"This is the right decision for the USPS and for Napa," Thompson said. "No one wanted to see it destroyed.

The building suffered cracks and falling bricks in the 6.0-magnitude quake. Since then, a fence and caution tape have surrounded the building, decorated with friezes depicting rams and eagles, and adorned with intricate iron lights and railings.

The Postal Service had announced in June that it intended to tear down the building on Second Street, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That decision prompted a public outcry.

A site for a new post office will be set after a public meeting, which has not been scheduled.