Read some history of the Benton Post Office and learn about who will inhabit the property next.
There is a 7,330 square foot building in downtown Benton known as simply “the old post office” or “the federal building” to many, but it’s soon to become something else.
The property has been for sale or lease for years, but a deal finally closed right before Christmas. Hope Consulting will be the newest inhabitants of the building. See more about their plans below, but first let’s talk about some of the history of the structure.
A provenance sign on the building at the corner of North Main and East Sevier gives a date of 1939. That is when the building was established. It was built using funds from the United States Treasury, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.
The cornerstone of the former United States Post Office building in downtown Benton lists officials from 1939 when the building was established: James A. Farley, Postmaster General; John M Carmody, Federal Works Administrator; W Englebert Reynolds, Commissioner of Public Buildings; Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect; and Neal A. Melick, Supervising Engineer.
Some time after the post office closed, the building was deeded to The Salvation Army for about 20 years, between 1997 and 2017. And then it has been vacant for those several years.
Julius Woeltz, “Bauxite Mining,” finished in 1942 for installation at Benton Post Office. – COLLECTION OF FINE ARTS GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. See close-up shots below.
At one time, the building contained a large mural painting that was commissioned, also as part of the New Deal. The Treasury Department in those days allowed one percent of post office construction budgets to be used for adding art to decor in the building, according to Encyclopedia of Arkansas. That painting has been relocated to the lobby of the Saline County Courthouse in recent years.
A 6 x 12-foot painting by Julius Woeltz named “The Bauxite Mines” was completed in 1942, at the height of aluminum production in the community. The painter was an art professor at the University of Texas, but according to a publication by John Purifoy Gill about post office art, Woeltz was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps and was unable to be present for the installation of the painting.
Julius Woeltz was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1911, and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He later traveled to France and Mexico to continue his artistic training. Woeltz became a teacher at the New Orleans Art School, won prizes in Mississippi at the Jackson Art Association in 1935, the Artists Club in New Orleans in 1936 and exhibited his work at the 1939 New York Worlds Fair.
The “Bauxite Mining” work was commissioned by the Federal Government under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, and was designed for, and originally installed in, the United States Post Office in Benton, Arkansas, in 1942.
Woeltz chose to depict the importance of the mining of bauxite and its relation to the social identity of the surrounding community. Central Arkansas is the only place in the continental United States where it has been economically feasible to commercially mine Bauxite ore, which is used in the making of Aluminum.
Mining of Bauxite began in 1899 and increase each year, reaching its peak during World War II. It was during this time that Woeltz painted this tribute to the Bauxite Miners.
Hope Consulting, a Civil Engineering and Land Surveying business shared a message on their social media recently, announcing that they purchased the post office property. They have some plans to keep the building close to its original features. Jonathan Hope, runs Hope Consulting along with his father, Bill Hope, Jr. and they have done so since 2008. They following in the footsteps of Jonathan’s grandfather, Bill Hope, Sr. who started in the engineering business in 1964.
Jonathan went into detail about their goals for renovating, “Our main focus will be on restoring all that we can from the original building. We are working with Dr. Antoinette Johnson, who is assisting us with the historical preservation and interior design. The building will be getting all new wiring for the electrical.
“We were happy to find some of the original pendant lighting in the vault, and we are going to be re-hanging those fixtures. The original hardwood floors are going to be repaired, sanded, and re-stained. We will also be repairing and cleaning the original terrazzo floors in the entry way.
Hope Consulting has been in their location at 117 South Market in Benton for the last 10 years. The goal is to be finished with renovations and move to the new building – a block to the east and a block to the north – in the Summer of 2022.
At over 7,300 square feet, they know they will occupy the entire main level and initially half of the downstairs. They are currently exploring options for potentially leasing out some office space downstairs.
“We love that downtown Benton stays true to the downtown charm with parades, Third Thursday, other family-owned businesses, and is home to our local church,” said Jonathan. “We love that so many local families have invested in downtown with their businesses. The charm of downtown is back with a new energy that is encouraging others to invest in our hometown.”
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