Century old post office getting facelift

Removing the paint will also provide an opportunity to expose some of the areas in the masonry walls where, as a second step, repairs will need to be undertaken.

Lutz said they are applying environmentally friendly stripper to the building that will allow for the paint to be removed without damaging the brick.

“We’ll be going around the entire building and doing that and if time permits this fall we may commence with some urgent repairs on the masonry its self, repointing some of the bricks and resetting some of the stones,” said Lutz.

The city had applied for the Canada 150 Grant but because the federal election was called in the middle of dealing with the application, only a portion of the grant dollars were handed out.

“So there is potential that the grant will be picked up after the election but once the election was called there are no further federal grants issued until after the election so we’ll wait and see,” Lutz said.

The city is also working towards interior renovations and did receive some grant funding and donations from Scotia Bank and Affinity Insurance in order to do that.

Interior work will include re-doing handicapped accessible washrooms and also developing a business office for the city’s Main Street Organization to operate in the front of the building.

“That work should be done by later this fall. We’re hoping before the end of the year we’ll be able to move our Mainstreet office into the building and see that building once again part of the downtown life,” said Lutz.

He said this is just the start for what the building can be and can do for main street Melfort.

“It’s an impressive structure on the street scape and that’s why we’re working on the exterior, but on the interior we see that because of its location right in the middle of downtown, it’s suitable for a number of uses.”

He said seeing their first occupant move in this fall will be a start to only more uses they will be able to come up with in the future, including possible business opportunities in the building as well.

The city has seen some interest so far, including from small home businesses considering testing out a storefront.

“The other thing we’re looking at as a Mainstreet organization is we’re looking at gaps and needs in the downtown area that will complement our existing businesses and so we may come up with great business opportunity and be able to use that building as leverage to attract the right kind of businesses to our downtown,” Lutz said.

He said the city is excited about the possibilities the building presents.

swallace@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahthesquid

by Sarah Wallace

Century old post office getting facelift

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