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Tijuanenses Organize to Preserve Post Office
By Maria Curry
March/April 2019
 The Tijuana post office and telegraph office built in 1957. Citizens groups want to designate it and convert it for cultural use. Photo from Tijuana History Archive |
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 Above 3 Vintage post cards of the post office |
 A recent photo of the post office |
 With free-standing columns, the open design of the post office interior is visible through the glass façade. Photo by Maria Curry |
 Post office façade detail. Photo by Maria Curry |
The main post and telegraph office in Tijuana, built downtown in 1957 at Once and Negrete Streets, looks almost empty nowadays, due to email and other fast communications. Yet some Tijuanenses consider it a modernist landmark with functionalist and International Style influences worthy of preservation.
On January 31, the group Feria del Libro de Tijuana (FLT, Tijuana Book Fair), a civic organization that promotes culture and historic identity, announced that an honorary committee will work on designating the post office building as part of the state cultural patrimony, and promote its preservation and future cultural use. The committee includes members of organizations such as Descendientes de los Heroes de Baja California, Californix (an anticorruption group), and ICOMOS Mexicano, as well as FLT. Subcommittees are working on historical research, legislative analysis, identification of possible sources for funding or investment, and requests for architectural proposals for adaptive reuse and restoration.
The first step is the designation of the building through the state's Consejo del Patrimonio Cultural de Baja California (Council of Cultural Patrimony). The building, which is a federal property, complies with the state preservation law for its designation: It is more than 50 years old, contributed to Tijuana's social and economic history, and has an architectural style considered important for Mexican architecture history.
When the post office was built, Adolfo Ruiz Cortines was president of Mexico. It was constructed with the cooperation of a Tijuana civic group and the Ministry of Communications and Public Works. The project designer was architect Silvio Margain, the builder and engineer was Jorge Pérez Palacios, and the supervisor was architect Raúl Díaz Ceballos. A local newspaper stated that the building was "an example of beauty and comfort for the public" and encouraged civic pride.
The post office is a two-volume rectangular structure with two stories and a basement. The main entry stair resembles the entrance of a Mexican pyramid and divides the structure in two parts. The left side houses the post office; the telegraph office is on the right. A diagonal concrete curtain wall formed a façade that was later replaced by a concrete wall, windows, and a concrete stair. The building's open interior space, including free-standing columns, is visible through the front glass façade. Built of concrete, glass, and iron, other design motifs are repetitive modular forms in the roof, walls, and windows, and flat surfaces, alternating with glass.
Ideas suggested for adaptive reuse of the post office include a new, expanded historical city archive; a public library; or a modern art museum. Some supporters would like to see uses that continue the building's dedication to written communications. Any renovations would preserve the façade's character defining features and restore lost elements or areas.
Vianett Medina, FLT president and director of the Centro de Posgrado y Estudios Sor Juana, the school hosting the first historic preservation class on border cities, is leading the preservation effort. The committee aims to coordinate the restoration and renovations.
Find more information about this project on the FLT website. Vianett Medina can also answer any questions at feriadelibrotijuana@gmail.com
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