Historic Post Office coming back to life

CEDAR FALLS | Near the ceiling of the old post office at the corner of Third and Washington streets, the bare interior walls are punctuated in several spots by square sets of horizontal wooden slats.

Behind each of these dusty shades is a compartment large enough to fit a person, reachable only by ladders concealed inside the buildings walls.

According to Jan Andersen with the Cedar Falls Development Group, in the days before security cameras, guards would sit inside these hidden perches and keep a watchful eye out as people milled around on the post office floor. One such guard used to bring cigars to work, Andersen said, and visitors could always tell when he was on the job by the little clouds of smoke escaping the grates overhead.

Andersen related the little piece of history with a smile on her face as she pointed to a ragged line slightly beneath the secret guard posts.

Thats where the drop ceiling used to be, she said. Those used to be completely hidden.

That is until the Cedar Valley Development Group commissioned Peters Construction to tear out the drop ceiling and knock down the partition walls, additions from the days when the building was converted for use as city office space. With those removed, along with the asbestos the mold that had built up during its years of abandonment, the post offices original historic features are beginning to shine through once again, thanks to hundreds of hours of volunteer hours put in by the Cedar Falls Development Group.

Were really excited to open this building to the public, Andersen said on Thursday evening, when the post office was one of several stops on the Upstairs Downtown tour. Andersen estimated it was the first time the building has been open to visitors for nearly a decade.

This building really does belong to the people of Cedar Falls, she added.

After acquiring a 40 year lease for the city owned building earlier this year, Cedar Falls Development Group has been working to prepare the post office for occupation by a new tenant. Several parties have expressed interest in the building, but no lease agreements have been signed yet, and the group still has more work to do before anyone can move in.

Still, the progress the nascent developer group has made so far is significant. Volunteers have landscaped the lawn out front, and the original scallop patterned window casings outside have been stripped and repainted. The ornate iron lampposts also have been refurbished and fitted into their concrete pedestals with new pieces cast by the UNI Metal Casting Center.

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Historic Post Office coming back to life