New plans for the Napa Post Office

In August 2014, a magnitude-6.0 earthquake badly damaged the historic Franklin Station post office in downtown Napa, California, forcing its closure. Built in 1933 with funding from the Public Works Administration, and designed by architect William Corlett, the Franklin Station is one of only a handful of Art Deco post offices in California. Its style combines what is referred to as “starved classicism” in an environmental review, with Art Deco. Its flattened, square, neoclassical columns are without typical capitals, in a style that was often referred to as “Greco Deco” by ADSC founder Michael Crowe. Its Art Deco detailing is found in much of the terracotta ornament such as in the design of eagles, rams heads, and cows heads, and elsewhere, such as in the light fixtures and interior ceiling details.

As one of downtown Napa’s most architecturally distinguished buildings, it was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and was the main post office for Napa residents.

In 2015, the U.S. Postal Service said it would tear the building down as a cost-saving measure, because it would cost about $8 million to repair the building, versus $500,000 to tear it down, against the wishes of the city of Napa and many of its citizens. A preservation campaign, led by Napa County Landmarks, a non-profit organization, ensued. Thousands of concerned residents,  preservationists, and Art Deco lovers, including members of the Art Deco Society of California, voiced their concerns in letters and emails to the Postmaster General.

In 2017, the U.S. Postal Service sold the building to a local real estate developer Jim Keller for $2 million. Keller and the city of Napa entered into an agreement to turn the former post office into a hotel, to be called the Franklin Station Hotel. One of the terms of the sale was the creation of a conservation easement – a deed restriction signed by Napa County Landmarks and the property owner, stating that any new project must comply with the U.S. Secretary of Interior’s Standards guidelines to ensure the new addition is compatible and subordinate to the historic building and the approval of the NCL.

The first pass at the project by Keller’s architects in 2019 did not meet the approval of the NCL, which deemed the surrounding hotel design, as overwhelming the post office. A second design was submitted by SB Architects in August 2020 and is currently under review. The plan is for the Post Office to become the lobby of a proposed new hotel. Once the project is approved, it is expected to move slower than originally expected, because of the pandemic and the current state of the travel industry.

Franklin Station Hotel rendering by SB Architects of San Francisco, August 2020.