Arnold Post Office Renovators Get Enhancement Award

Ever admire the building the Arnold Post Office is housed in? It recently completed a massive $1.4 million renovation which stripped it down to its bare essentials, and then was rebuilt with new materials.

The Arnold Preservation Council (APC) honors enhancements made in town each year with its annual enhancement award.

The Realtor Building was purchased in 2007 and soon underwent a $1.4 million renovation that was completed by spring 2011. Workers stripped the facade from the building, gave it a new roof, plumbing and HVAC. The parking lot was also resurfaced and landscaping was enhanced.

"Everything inside was stripped down to the concrete walls and replaced with state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly materials," according to a press release.

Today, the three-story building is fully occupied, with the Arnold Post Office occupying the first floor, an orthopedic surgeon on the second floor, and the Anne Arundel County Association of Realtors occupying the top floor. 

The criteria for the APC's enhancement award includes:

• Project must be a new or renewed site in Arnold
• Uses environmentally sensitive techniques or materials
• Improves the neighborhood
• Sets high standards that may inspire others

Previous winners of the APC's annual enhancement award include Chesapeake Academy (2007), Anne Arundel Community College Landscape Plan Committee (2008), Safeway (2009), T.D. Bank (2010) and Asbury United Methodist Church (2011).