Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Steps in to Block Northfield Post Office Sale

Northfield’s downtown post office went up for sale earlier this month, but the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation says not so fast. 

The ACHP, which is responsible for oversight of the country's historic preservation laws, says in a letter to the United States Postal Service that the federal agency got ahead of itself by putting Northfield's post office on the market.

"(The) regulations specifically require a federal agency to complete (a specific) process prior to making a final decision on the undertaking in order for the broadest range of alternatives to be considered during the planning process," the letter reads. "Listing the Northfield Post Office for sale is premature, and the USPS must meet its regularly obligations for consultation ... before making the final decision for disposal."

(Read the letter by clicking the PDF to the right.)

Part of the issue, according to the letter, is the lack of response from the USPS when the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office requested a discussion with the USPS last summer about the "purpose and need for the disposal."

Northfield City Councilor Suzie Nakasian, who is a member of the task force, wrote an in email to Northfield Patch that she believes the "USPS intends to perform due diligence."

“Those regulations, we are told, require the USPS to meet with local stakeholders including the [City of Northfield] to address potential negative adverse effects of the transfer of the property out of federal hand,” Nakasian previously told Northfield Patch. “Both the building itself and the historic district in which it is located have historic designation that fall under federal protection, so we still hope that USPS will comply with those [regulations] and agree to meet with the City and find a way to mitigate the impact of their intended sale of on the the economic vitality and historic character of our downtown.”

The historic  is one of 77 properties listed as on the market on the United States Postal Service’s properties-for-sale website. The asking price for the property—the 9,708 square-foot building that was built in 1936 and a half-acre lot with 15 parking spaces—is $845,000.

The online for-sale ad—which calls the post office an “architecturally distinct building”—says the property “represents a unique opportunity to purchase a unique and beautiful former U.S. Postal Service facility.”

Last March, the  the Bridge Square post office was one of 16,000 sites nationwide being considered for closure as part of a cost-cutting plan as the USPS continues to lose money as people turn away from traditional mail services for other options of communication and sending packages.

Closing the Bridge Square post office means that consumer mailing services in Northfield would be consolidated into the USPS postal carrier annex at 2101 Cannon Road, near in the southern end of the city.

Immediately following the USPS’s announcement in March, city government and civic leaders formed  in an attempt to at least stall the planned closure.

Nakasian remains optimistic for the future of a post office in downtown Northfield. 

“We are working hard to pursue a win-win solution that will allow the USPS to do what it needs to do while not letting them put a hole in the center of our downtown economy.”

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