Reno Art Deco post office brought back in time
RENO — The past is returning to life at the former main U.S. Post Office building here as private investors restore the original splendor of the historic Art Deco structure and turn it into mixed retail and office use.
The building, designed by Nevada‘s pre-eminent architect Frederic J. DeLongchamps in 1932, cost $360,000 to build and opened for use as a post office in 1934. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It‘s life as a post office and federal building came to an end in 2012.
Investors, including Bernie Carter, his two brothers and Troy Schneider, bought the building along the Truckee River downtown in August 2012 and have been restoring it for the past 2½ years. Tenants are now moving into "The Basement" portion of the building, and a main tenant for the ground floor should be in place later this year.
There are also two upper floors that will become office space.
With black Georgia marble and cast aluminum detailing, the building now known as Fifty South Virginia is expected to play a major role in the ongoing redevelopment of downtown, Carter said.
"Our vision is to be a catalyst for the redevelopment of downtown Reno," he said.
The investors purchased the building from the U.S. government for $1.2 million and have invested millions more to prepare it for tenants, Carter said.
Carter and others involved in the project, including Denis Donovan with the engineering firm Sustainable Energy Solutions, provided a tour Wednesday to members of the Nevada Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. About two dozen people wandered through the nearly 60,000-square-foot building to see all the work that has been done to get it ready for occupancy.
Donovan said a decision was made not to seek LEED green building certification because of the cost. But investments were made in the structure where appropriate, including the use of a heat pump system, he said.
Several of DeLongchamps’ architectural designs that had been lost over the years, including reopening the third floor, restoring the building’s high ceilings and opening the central skylight, were all part of the project.
By restoring the building to its original form, office windows open again to fresh air the way they were originally designed, Donovan said. The building was constructed without any mechanical ventilation and relied on windows and transoms to provide circulation, he said.
Those interested in energy efficiency can see how builders decades ago used such features out of necessity to create a comfortable environment, Donovan said.
The building is unique because the U.S. Postal Department hired a local architect and because DeLongchamps persuaded postal officials to approve plans for what would become Nevada’s only Art Deco post office.
MacDonald Engineering constructed the building, with the assistance of the Civil Works Administration (CWA), one of President Franklin Roosevelt‘s New Deal programs.
Donovan said it would be impossible to find anyone today who could create the cast aluminum accents, let alone pay for such work.
Carter, who has spent a lot of time in the building, said it is the little details he enjoys uncovering, such as the fossils in the marble used on some of the main floor walls.
Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801
