Inspection Period Extended For Historic Post Office In Morristown

MORRISTOWN, NJ — An extension has pushed back the plans for Morristown to renovate and purchase the century-old United States Post Office, a deteriorating historic facility on the Morristown Green.

An update on the status of the Morristown Post Office purchase was provided during the April 25 town council meeting, alerting the public to the continuation of the ongoing inspections at the historic site.

According to Town Administrator Jillian Barrick, the town and the Postal Service agreed to push back the completion date until July in order to properly wrap things up.

In September 2022, the council previously stated that consultants would perform six months of "due diligence," which will include a feasibility study for potential uses of the building as well as environmental and structural analyses.

The inspections were already underway in December of last year.

The $3 million purchase will allow the town to relocate certain municipal operations, and the Postal Service, which owns the building at 1 Morris Street, will lease back a portion of the first floor as part of the agreement.

The administration will not be able to close on the building purchase until the due diligence findings are released and the administration is able to return to the council and seek approval on a bond sale.

"Until we pass a bond ordinance, we won't have the funds authorized to execute the contract and close on the building," Barrick said in September.

The project was originally scheduled to complete the full report by January or February, but this has been pushed back until mid-summer. The inspections will help the town determine which operations can be moved from the current town hall at 200 South St. to the renovated post office.

On April 25, the council also approved a resolution authorizing the town to apply for a grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust Historic Site Management Grant Program in the amount of $75,000 for the Post Office building.

While the Post Office has been in continuous operation for over a century, portions of the building have gone unused, and elements of the property require repair and rehabilitation, resulting in an estimated cost of $142,050 to develop construction drawings.

"We will circle back as soon as we have information to share, but in the meantime, we did not waste an opportunity to seek a grant because they don't come up all that often," Barrick said.