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P L A N N I N G
<br /> R A C T I C E
<br /> cal concerns serioiusly.Laura managers that they have "a Philip Langdon is a writer and editor in New Haven,
<br /> Skaggs,in the National Trust's public responsibility" that Connecticut. He is the author of A Better Place to Live:
<br /> public policy department, must be balanced against cost Reshaping the American Suburb,published by the University
<br /> would remind the agency's objectives. of Massachusetts Press in 1994.
<br /> Community Crossroads
<br /> Why do old post offices so buildings with gigantic clock became the dominant archi- local historian in Madison says
<br /> often become community raltowers. "They were totally tectural style. But it was the of the interior. "It says '±its is
<br /> lying points? In part because impractical,"Bruns says of the interior that received the great- an old place.'"
<br /> they are among the few sur- Whether a reserved,most
<br /> viving crossroads of commu- „ somber atmosphere cam sur-
<br /> nity in a time of sprawl and L ,,,,� , " � , vive the"advent of Bugs Enny
<br /> segmentation. g"' -u. posters and other Postal Ser-
<br /> „ U`fl70 � ©RE � .
<br /> Their greatness comes from 113,4.-°, - -, vice attempts:to profit from
<br /> what:they do:they tie the corn- -F`t ti'+.'. ,,,,eeicr "Eh pop-culture tie-ins remins to
<br /> munity together," says James ;.,„.L1 ,,,, l '
<br /> 4 M , �rAir�Q ' ��,� � be seen.Dignity on Main greet
<br /> Bruns,director of the National ,0 S.+ I,uIll �" +� ° is admirable, but it doesn't
<br /> Postal Museum at the y ° � k+ Inl. ,_ ass
<br /> �> � ^„ necessarily move merch ise.
<br /> Smithsonian Institution and . -
<br /> uthor of a highly entertain- es ,.
<br /> g, amply: researched book, u_k' ' ' 4:. J� Resources
<br /> ,
<br /> agIR �.
<br /> Postal Service. The
<br /> 'Community Relations
<br /> E jpe _ a a' ' Guide for U.S.Postal
<br /> Ser-
<br /> " vice Facilities Projects
<br /> t; -i.,1
<br /> ., A relic of the old days.Left:A was published' by the
<br /> tiny beauty in Crane,Oregon. agency in June 1997.For
<br /> 'MI ''.. towers. The main post office est attention,Bruns notes.Art- a copy, contact John
<br /> ti in Washington, D.C., a Ro- ists commissioned by the Trea Sorenson,USPS,4301 WI-
<br /> in
<br /> pile once nicknamed sury Department's Section of
<br /> son Blvd., Suite 300, Ar-
<br /> "Old Tooth" because of its Painting and Sculpture embel lington,VA.222031861;
<br /> tower, featured 12-foot-long lished post office lobbies all 70 35 2 6 2782;e-mail:
<br /> Great American Post Offices. minute hands that were so over the country with sculp J S O R E N S O @ email.
<br /> "The earliest post offices in heavy that they would "lose ture and murals. usps.gov.
<br /> the colonial period were typi- time on the upswing and gain The results include hundreds Action Guide.The Red
<br /> callyin printers' shops or tav- time on the downswing." of small-town post offices like Boob;An Action Guide for
<br /> ems or coffeehouses—gather- The last of the Victorian su- the one built in 1939 on the Preventing the Closing or
<br /> ing places like that," Bruns pervising architects,James Knox Boston Post Road in Madison, Consolidation of Your Post
<br /> points out. "It was not until Taylor,preferred Beaux Arts and Connecticut. Though hardly Office is publishedby the
<br /> about the 1840s that we started Georgian styling. Many build- grand, the Georgian building National Association of
<br /> to get government-owned build- ings from his tenure have iden- conveys a dignity that's ab- Postmasters of the United
<br /> ings," he says. Even then, he tical designs-standardization sent from most new postal fa States, a private organi-
<br /> says,post'offices tended to be being an objective that has been cilities.The strips of brass em zation at 8 Herbert St.,
<br /> integrated into customs houses pursued with uneven zeal dur- bedded in the floor,the gold-leaf Alexandria, VA. 22305;
<br /> or federal courthouses. ing a century and a half of post lettering over the service win- 703-683-9027.Copies are
<br /> 111After the Civil War;the fed- office construction. dows, the handsome oak free.
<br /> 0.-al government's architectural During the Depression, around the postal boxes all History. Great Amen-
<br /> ambitions became far more money for exterior embellish- engender an atmosphere that can Post Offices,by James
<br /> lofty.Massive Second Empire- ment was scarce, and in any inspires people to treasure old Bruns,published this year
<br /> style buildings rose in the case, the leading edge of de- post offices,despite functional by John Wiley St Sons,is
<br /> 1870s,followed in the 1880s sign was turning toward sim- flaws."It's not bright and mod- $24.95 in a 274 page pa-
<br /> and 1890s by Romanesque plification.Stripped classicism ern looking," Warner Lord, a perbound edition_
<br />
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