Belvidere architect purchases historic landmark post office

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By Susan Vela
Staff writer

Posted Jan 19, 2018 at 7:54 PM Updated Jan 19, 2018 at 9:14 PM

BELVIDERE — Sun streamed through the vacant 107-year-old South Street post office building Friday, shining light on architect Paul Ollmann and his visions for the historic space identified on the National Register of Historic Places.

By April, he will move his firm of several architects and engineers from 509 S. State St. and invest about $100,000 in carpeting, painting, plastering and other improvements.

Ollmann and his wife, Lori, the firm’s business manager, purchased the antique 200 S. State St. landmark this week for an undisclosed price from car dealership owner Jack Wolf.

The walls stretch 20 feet high. There’s plenty of wood. And the main lobby, Ollmann hopes, will be a place for meetings and perhaps special events.

“It’s going to be nice,” said Ollmann, who started Ollmann Ernest Martin Architects more than a decade ago. “It’s still very much intact. This is beautiful. It’s really good bones to start with. It’s a really good fit for us.”

Ollmann and his business partners Jeff Ernest and Wendy Martin now have clients in more than 40 states. Their firm has become known as a go-to firm for the food industry. It has designed more than 300 restaurants for clients that include chains like Culver’s. It also is behind the designs for businessman Russell Caldwell’s planned 10,000-square-foot multiuse dining and entertainment complex — dubbed Iron & Coal — near City Hall.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” Ollmann said. “Illinois is tough.”

Ollmann, along with his wife and Ernest, grew up in Belvidere. They have fond memories of visiting the post office.

They’ve also known Wolf well and talked to him over the years about potential uses for the building which also has served as a home for the Belvidere Area Chamber of Commerce and Growth Dimensions.

The post office was built in 1911 for less than $50,000. It was a hub for downtown activity until 1997 when the postal operations moved to the city’s northwest side.

Brothers Jack and William Wolf purchased the building in 1998 for about $170,000.

It has been vacant for some years, and Jack Wolf said he approved of Ollmann’s planned use.

“It has always been a landmark in Belvidere,” he said. “I didn’t think it should be torn apart and ripped up all to pieces.”

Martin is looking forward to working in a larger, historic space.

“It’s a great building,” the 1988 Auburn High School graduate said. “It’s a great space. It feels good to be in it.”

Growth Dimensions is a public-private organization trying to ignite economic development throughout the region. Executive Director Pamela Lopez-Fettes said it’s good the post office is getting a new purpose.

“It’s a great opportunity for a business,” she said. “Who better than an architect — one from our community — ... who is willing to invest in our community.”

Susan Vela: 815-987-1392; svela@rrstar.com; @susanvela