ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702210049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
For sale, one post office.
Centrally located in Christiansburg's downtown business district, the building offers historic ambiance and easy walking distance to the Montgomery County Courthouse, the Municipal Building, businesses and residential areas.
The asking price is $295,000, including about one-third of an acre and the 3,518-square-foot building. A 20 percent deposit is required, and the balance would be paid off over seven years with 10 percent annual interest. Or the building can be leased for $3,000 a month.
The building doesn't have enough parking spaces for it to remain suitable as a post office, which is one reason why the U.S. Postal Service has decided to move. A new post office should be completed this summer on Arbor Drive, near the Marketplace shopping center, an area that has become the busiest part of Christiansburg.
As part of the move, the mural depicting some of the history of Christiansburg, on display in the lobby for more than 50 years, will be taken down, restored and put up in the lobby of the new post office behind a glass case. A McLean firm, Stewart-Treviranus Associates, that specializes in the restoration of paintings, has bid $9,150 for the job. The mural should be removed within a month.
When the U.S. Postal Service leaves the downtown location, the parking spaces it uses for its trucks in the back will be available, as will several others nearby, for a total of about 20. Postmaster Art Duarte said the building would be great for professional offices, a bank or even a restaurant. He said he already has fielded several informal inquiries from professional businesses.
It has a roomy main floor, a basement, four bathrooms and a new heating and air-conditioning system and roof.
When the U.S. Postal Service decided last year to move to Arbor Drive, it promised to make sure a privately operated postal facility with many of the services of the current post office would open downtown, perhaps even in the same location.
The building was first offered for sale to the federal government, and to the county and town. But all three passed, and the general public is next in line. The deadline for offers is April 10.
The building's designation as a state historic landmark means major changes would not be allowed without prior approval, said Pat Ferrari, who works in the U.S. Postal Service's Asset Management office in Memphis, Tenn.
Duarte is available for inspections and tours of the building. Ferrari can be reached at (901) 747-7415.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: FILE. The post office mural will be taken down, restoredby CNBand put up in the lobby of the new post office behind a glass case.