Sale of Old Post Office sparks ideas

Visitors muse on future

— The Old Post Office on the square has a new owner. Now it’s a question of what becomes of it.

The 13,450-square-foot building has housed a variety of bars and restaurants. John James’ Hayseed Ventures served as its most recent tenant before the building went on the market in spring 2017. It sat vacant, with a main floor, office area upstairs, basement and back patio waiting to be occupied. A new buyer closed on the property June 29.

Arnold Holdings, with an address listed in Little Rock, bought the place for nearly $2.3 million. The company is registered to Mike Arnold, who declined a request for an interview. Representatives with Fineberg & Associates, the listing agent for the property, said they don’t know what’s planned for the space.

Visitors to the downtown square for First Thursday had a few ideas.

Justin Smock, 29, and Marion Felix-Faure, 26, agreed whatever goes inside should match the attractive facade outside. Smock’s immediate instincts told him offices upstairs and a restaurant downstairs. He dismissed a mixed

residential and commercial use, saying living there likely wouldn’t be feasible.

“That’d be pretty premium rent,” Smock said.

Felix-Faure said the uniqueness of the building should factor into any decisions. It should be something drawing people in, she said, because the spot is essentially the focal point of the square.

Maybe it could be a gaming place, like a mini-casino, Felix-Faure said. Entertainment is a safe bet.

The building has seen its share of tenants since being built in 1911 and named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

The three-story, brick building was designed to give the effect of a one-story structure, according to its National Register application. Eight granite steps, flanked by a pair of cast-iron ornamental lamp posts, lead up to the main entrance. Flat arches made of brick and limestone span the window and door openings. Two-thirds of the basement lies underground, with small, square windows providing light from the ground level. The building takes from the neoclassical and Renaissance Revival styles of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The building was the Fayetteville Post Office until 1963, when the Post Office opened at Dickson Street and St. Charles Avenue, according to The Square Book by Tony Wappel and Jerry Hogan.

It continued to hold federal offices for about a decade, according to the National Register application. In the early 1970s, the economic development group Downtown Fayetteville Unlimited

swapped land it owned a block off the square on College Avenue with the federal government. The federal courthouse was built there, and the development group deeded the Old Post Office property to the Fayetteville Housing Authority.

The Housing Authority, which oversaw an urban renewal grant at the time, proposed demolishing the building and replacing it with a pedestrian area complete with a sunken terrace and fountain.

“Much of the square at that time was boarded up, with all of the businesses having relocated to the mall,” said Rick Alexander, a longtime local developer. “There was a trend back in those days.”

A resident-led petition kept the Old Post Office standing. Getting the building on the National Register prevented federal money from being used to demolish it, said Frank Sharp, who participated in the effort.

Donald and Edna Bumpass bought the building in 1977 for $42,500, according to Washington County property records. Ron Bumpass,

who inherited it, sold it to Jim Huson, owner of Doe’s Eat Place, for $1.3 million in 2013. Arnold bought the building from Huson.

From the late 1970s to the early 2000s, the building was home to the OPO restaurant and bar. Alexander’s wife, Jenny, was one of the first waitresses there.

“At that time it was probably one of the top two or three restaurants in town,” he said.

Other establishments came and went. Among them, Hog City Diner, Sodies, Urban Table, Stogie’s and Jammin’ Java. Country Outfitter moved in before Jame’s Hayseed Ventures.

The Parks and Recreation Department manages the gardens surrounding the Old Post Office on the square, which are technically a city park, said Byron Humphry, parks maintenance superintendent. The city also owns the patio in the back and has leased it to past owners of the building, he said.

Humphry said he wasn’t sure what kind of agreement might happen under the new ownership.

Devin Howland, the city’s economic vitality director, said he was glad to see the space become active again. The property’s zoning allows a wide variety of uses, including eating places, shopping, residences, commercial recreation and offices, along with a few more conditional uses.

“The Old Post Office kind of serves as the heart of our square,” he said. “It needs to have a life to it and draw people down so they can enjoy the interior of it again.”

Morgan Young, a 17-yearold from Keller, Texas, stood in front of the building Thursday while checking out the city and University of Arkansas campus with her mom, Ellen. The pair walked over because they weren’t sure what the building was.

“It’d be cool to have like a ballroom kind-of area,” Morgan said. “Artists could come and people could listen to music and have somewhere to go.”

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Visitors walk Thursday past the Old Post Office building during First Thursday on the Fayetteville square. The building, which has been home to several businesses, recently sold.