Editorial
Golden opportunity to acquire the downtown post office Birge Clark building is surplus, but could be adapted to other uses if price is right
P
alo Alto residents have been picking up their mail and buying stamps at the downtown post office since 1932, but change is coming and with the financial meltdown of the Postal Service, 380 Hamilton Ave. is likely to have a new owner before the year is out. A solid majority of the City Council voted Tuesday to make sure the city is among the bidders when the service chooses who will buy the beautiful and historic 20,300-square-foot building that was designed by Palo Alto’s own Birge Clark. The building’s distinctive Spanish Colonial Revival style was a Clark trademark, which broke the rules laid down by postal officials at the time. Ultimately it became the first post office ever commissioned to be intentionally designed for the purpose, but was only accepted after the direct intervention of President Herbert Hoover, a friend of Clark’s. During Tuesday’s presentation at City Hall, postal officials explained the service’s acute nationwide financial problems, which are forcing the sale of Palo Alto’s downtown post office and many other buildings elsewhere on the Peninsula and around the country. But while the Postal Service wants to downsize, the officials said they are not abandoning downtown Palo Alto, where they hope to lease about 3,500 square feet of commercial space, either in the old post office or within a few blocks of 380 Hamilton. The council wisely directed its staff to appraise the property and begin evaluating eventual uses for the site, although it is far from clear whether it makes financial sense to purchase the property. The PF (public facility) zoning at the site must either house a public use or be rezoned for other uses, Planning and Community Environment Director Curtis Williams told the council. Any buyer would have to ‘Gorgeous building’ is overcome many procedural historically significant to hurdles and proceed with the city. caution before modifying – Palo Alto City Councilman the building, which is listed Sid Espinosa on the city’s inventory of historical buildings and the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Register of Historic Places. The restrictions would make it difficult to use the building for a private, profit-making use, although it would not be impossible. The council did not identify a funding source to purchase the building, which in an entirely off-the-cuff estimate, one local developer said could be worth about $6 million or more. The Postal Service is looking for a quick sale and is hoping to put the building on the market in May of this year. Many of the comments Tuesday spoke about the history and beauty of the building. Councilman Sid Espinosa said the post office is a “gorgeous building,” that is historically significant to the city. He urged city staff members to consider “creative uses” for areas around the building, including the parking lot. The council ultimately adopted Councilwoman Gail Price’s motion asking staff to appraise the site and consider “adaptive reuse concepts” and “planning strategies” for the site. On Tuesday the council did not focus on potential uses for the building, but back in December Councilman Pat Burt said he would like to explore making it the site of the Development Center. The city’s current center is located in leased space at 285 Hamilton, across the street from City Hall. Given the possibility that the building’s zoning designation and historic rating could lower its price, the city should think creatively about uses for this one-of-a-kind Birge Clark building. One possibility that could help remedy the long-running and so far unsuccessful search for a public-safety building would be to move the downtown library to the post office, lease 3,500 square feet back to the Postal Service, and use the library building to house portions of the police department, which is located across the street. With its two prominent entrances, the post office could have its own access to the smaller branch post office, while the current library, or some other use compatible with the public facility zoning, could use the other. Regardless, this beautiful public building should be preserved and given a new life by the city, particularly if it can ease overcrowding at City Hall. Or it could be leased to a tenant who could work with the zoning profile. A good example of the city finding a new purpose for a large building is the Senior Center takeover of the old police station on Bryant Street. Although the police station was vacant for nearly 10 years, the city worked with a citizens group that raised more than $1 million in the early 1970s to refurbish the 16,000-square-foot building that housed all the city’s senior programs and continues to do so under the Avenidas banner. It is a good example of how historic city buildings like the post office can be given a new lease on life. Page 18ÊUÊ iLÀÕ>ÀÞÊÓ{]ÊÓä£ÓÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ
Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions
Compost facility feasibility Editor, Now that Measure E has opened the door to using 10 acres of parkland for a compost facility, residents must watch the city’s actions closely to make sure that a decision is made quickly, and if the real financial merit of the plant is not feasible — make sure that the parkland is rededicated. All concerned residents must insist that our leaders respond to the following questions: 1. How do we make sure that the “cost” (market value) of the 10 acres of real estate is fully accounted for in any financial feasibility study? 2. How do we assure that there is absolute integrity in all the assumptions used to evaluate the project (real financial merit vs. pipe dreams)? 3. How do we keep study costs to a minimum (i.e., if it is clear that the anaerobic digester does not meet financial return goals, stop the detailed study and return the parkland)? Without this scrutiny, we will spend money and delay a precious park resource without delivering any value. Watchdog efforts like these are bad news for those hoping that there might be a loophole to convert the land to another purpose once the memory of implied promises have faded. That promise: The city will provide an innovative composting plant that returns a positive financial return (including the market value of the land) or return it to parkland and proceed with the long-delayed recreational vision for our waterfront. Got accountability? Compost or get off the pot. Timothy Gray Park Boulevard
Electrify Caltrain Editor, The latest sugar in the California High Speed Rail Authority boondoggle is to provide electrification for the Peninsula Caltrain System. Back in 2000 Santa Clara County voters approved Measure A, which extended the 1996 sales tax for the BART extension, but also for Caltrain electrification. The Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce got on board, so to speak, since electrification promised fast, frequent and quiet Caltrain. That was the sugar for Measure A. Bottom line: We were promised electrification once in Measure A and now for high-speed rail. This is doubling down on bait and switch. Chop Keenan Keenan Land Co. Palo Alto
This week on Town Square Posted Feb. 22 at 10:31 a.m. by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood: There is a definite double standard here (re: “Music company drops children’s classics”). I know that most “old” children’s rhymes come out of what was going on in the world at the time and it is playing with traditions and history to get them banned. Do we really want to do this? Isn’t it denying that these things happened? At the same time, we seem to be using the opposite idea in our literature choices in our schools. Huck Finn, Roll of Thunder and even Anne Frank are required reading for middle schoolers who are often being faced with racist issues in ways they have never had to experience before. Is this teaching them English skills, criticalthinking skills, history, or showing them insight into past values out of context? History is not pleasant. We have some really ugly history in all cultures. Picking and choosing which
to allow and which not to allow is likely to cause more discord than harmony. Posted Feb. 22 at 3:14 p.m. by Douglas Moran, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood: On the bias/ideology of the local chapter of the Sierra Club, be aware that their spokesperson for Transportation Affairs advocates reducing the vehicle lanes on Alma to accommodate bicycle lanes, never mind that the Bryant Street Bike Boulevard is but two blocks to the east and there is a bike path on the other side of the Caltrain tracks. The bike lanes are but a “statement” and a means to make travel by car more and more difficult, never mind that many of those drivers don’t have viable alternatives. My experience with the leadership of the chapter over the years is that they are ideologues who are unwilling to consider negative consequences and side-effects of what they propose.
YOUR TURN The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest. What do you think? How can the City use the Hamilton Avenue Post
Office? Submit letters to the editor of up to 250 words to letters@paweekly.com. Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you. We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be accepted. You can also participate in our popular interactive online forum, Town Square, at our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Read blogs, discuss issues, ask questions or express opinions with you neighbors any time, day or night. Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of permission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Media to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square. For more information contact Editor Jocelyn Dong or Online Editor Tyler Hanley at editor@paweekly.com or 650-326-8210.