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News November 2015
Maplewood Planning Board approves site plan for Post Office redevelopment
November 14, 2015
DOCOMOMO NY/Tri-State has been following the Maplewood Post Office in New Jersey since news of its redevelopment was first announced by the Township in early 2014. Unfortunately, it appears the end is near for this “perfectly Modern” post office. The planning board recently voted unanimously to grant preliminary site plan approval for a new mixed-use development by JMF Properties on the site of the post office. Village Keepers, a local group opposed to the project that had filed an appeal to stop demolition, has since dropped it, citing “backroom maneuvers” and “last minute site plan revisions,” which eliminated “the hope of an impartial vote on the hardship issue.”
Designed by Albert O. Pollitt for the US General Services Administration, the Maplewood Post Office opened to much fanfare in 1958 with a parade and a special flag flown over the Capitol in Washington, DC. In March of 2015, DOCOMOMO NY/Tri-State submitted a letter to the NJ Historic Preservation Office noting the contributions that well-designed public buildings of the Modern vernacular tradition make to the historical record and to their communities and calling for designation of the Maplewood Post Office and encouraging adaptive reuse. Prominent architects Richard Meier and Peter Eisenman, both of who attended the local high school, also spoke out in favor of saving the building.
“Maplewood Planning Board gives preliminary approval to Post House site plan,” The Village Green, October 13, 2015
“Village Keepers withdraws Planning Board appeal re: Post House site,” The Village Green, October 21, 2015
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