Great news! On July 16, 2018, USPS announced, via letter, its decision to cancel the sale of the Richmond Main Post Office, stating: “after careful analysis of changing marketing conditions, [USPS has] determined it will not pursue the potential disposal of this Property as this time. If the USPS determines in the future that conditions are appropriate to pursue a disposal undertaking, it will reinitiate Section 106 consultation.”
A few days later, Congressman DeSaulnier released a statement thanking the community for their activism and provided an update on the renaming:
“Now that the Nevin Avenue Post Office will remain open, we are continuing our efforts to rename the facility in honor of Harold D. McCraw, Sr., a distinguished and dedicated civil servant who worked in the Richmond Post Office for 45 years. I am hopeful that the House of Representatives will consider the bill in the near future.”
Huge thanks to everyone who attended the meetings, wrote letters, signed the petition, shared this story, and resisted USPS’s proposal to remove this vital service from the community!
Although this is very good news for our community and ensures that the Richmond Main Post Office will remain open and providing vital retail post office services to residents and businesses, we also recognize that the fight to protecting it from “disposal” by USPS is not over. The renaming of the post office will be a big step forward in preservation efforts and we hope that the bill to do so is successful. An official historic designation may be the best way to protect the building from future sale and we are exploring how we may be able to get this process started.
Our staff is small and we do not have the expertise or financial capacity to pursue the process of designating the building as a historic place, such as the National Register of Historic Places. If you can help in any way with this process, please contact us.
Richmond Main Street staff, in collaboration with the offices of our elected officials, will do their very best to continue to advocate on behalf of the Richmond community, ensure the historic preservation of the building and operation of the post office, and provide updates as they become available.
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