Beverly Hills Postmaster, Koula Fuller, Preserves Historic Landmark and Aids with New Performing Arts Center

Koula Fuller was selected as Postmaster of Beverly Hills in 1982. She took the oath of office before City officials and 250 employees of the Beverly Hills Post Office on February 19, 1982. The Beverly Hills Post Office generated over $25M revenue annually with an operating budget of $10M for over 25 years. It is comprised of four facilities, including the historic Beverly Hills Post Office, and a contract postal unit, which serve the geographic north, south, east and west of the city. It serves 25,000 delivery points in the City.

In 1984, the historic building at 325 N Crescent Ave, known as the Crescent Station, was entered into the National Register of Historic Sites, thus assuring its preservation. Recognizing the historic and artistic importance of this Italian Renaissance style building, designed by architect Ralph Flewelling in 1936, and the al fresco WPA murals by artist Carl Kessler, Fuller embarked on preserving the structure in 1983, culminating in its naming to the National Register a year later. In addition, Fuller initiated intermediate preservation projects, including the renovation of the Kessler murals by conservator Anne Rosenthal and the restoration of the Italian Via Verde marbles.

Budgetary constraints prevenTed Further renovation and restoration, prompting Fuller to propose the sale of the building, justifying the project based on the 20% occupancy of the building and the then $5M estimate for further restoration projects. Placing it in the hands of an entity that would assure preservation of the building was of prime importance.

Enter the City of Beverly Hills, expressing an interest in purchasing the building, following the required process of offering a government-owned building to the federal government first and then progressive offerings to state, county and ultimately municipal entities. Through the mutuAl Cooperation of the City and the US Postal Service, under the leadership and initiative of Mayor Vicki Reynolds, the support and cooperation of Mayor MeriLee Goldman, Mayor Max Salter and the City Council, the historic Beverly Hills Post Office was conveyed to the City of Beverly Hills.

Today, we look proudly to completing the construction of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts held within the historic post office and adjacent complex. It is a concept whose time has come and which is widely awaited, as we look forward to the grand opening of the Center in October 2013.

Prior to her appointment as Postmaster, Fuller served as Director, Finance in the Los Angeles District and Inglewood Management Sectional Center of the Postal Service. She is a graduate of Chapman University, School of Law, and holds a Juris Doctor degree with the Class of 1999.

Once the most famous post office in the country, the Beverly Hills Post Office began with a letter and a dream. This particular letter came at the hand of Beverly Hills' honorary spokesperson and iconic American entertainer Will Rogers, when he wrote the Secretary of the United States Treasury petitioning for a new post office in 1933:

"...it seems you owe us $250,000.00 to build a post office and they can't get the dough out of you."

The letter initiated a site tour from officials, which prompted Washington promptly to allocate $300,000 for the Beverly Hills Post Office. The post office became more than just a place to mail or pick up a letter. It became a distinguished landmark and place to share news and storied in a community filled with Hollywood royalty.

Artist Carl Kessler was commissioned to decorate the walls of the interior Grand Hall with wet fresco murals depicting the creation of the mail service and views of modern life during the Depression. These eight lunettes are one of only two remaining wet fresco murals in California, and stand today as an impressive representation of another era.

The Post Office officially opened in 1934 and was dedicated in 1936 under the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration. Decades following its construction, the Beverly Hills Post Office took on a greater significance as the cornerstone of the City, becoming a vibrant architectural landmark. The famous citizens of Beverly Hills were spotted daily at the post office, symbolizing the reality that this was an extraordinary building in an extraordinary town. In recognition of its historic significance, the Beverly Hills Post Office was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Eventually, the post office services outgrew the building, and in 1993, the Postal Service declared the historic building a "surplus property." When postal operations moved to a new facility, a group of concerned community leaders appealed to the City in hopes of preserving the landmark for its citizens. This group became the Beverly Hills Cultural Center Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the adaptive reuse of the historic post office as a dynamic cultural destination, continuing the building's long tradition of public use in a luxury community.

The Beverly Hills Cultural Foundation sparked the interest of socialites throughout the city, in particular long-time and valued Beverly Hills resident Wallis H. Annenberg. As an active member of the Foundation's Board, Wallis and The Annenberg Foundation generously granted $15 million, becoming the naming lead gift of the $47 million Capital Campaign to preserve and adapt the landmark building as a performing arts center.

The historic landmark has found a second act as the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and as history often repeats itself, the citizens are leading the dream behind this cultural gem. Will Rogers would be honored that the building he so lovingly fought to build is being reimagined and modernized as a cultural venue to inspire a new generation.

Located inside the Grand Hall, near the vaulted ceiling, are eight Depression-era fresco murals painted by California artist Carl Kessler. These murals were funded under Franklin D. Roosevelt's Work Projects Administration (WPA) program and are one of the only two remaining WPA frescos in the entire California Federal Building system. Painted as homage to the WPA program, the six murals on the north and south walls depict laborers and artisans working on WPA projects, collecting their wages and purchasing groceries at an outdoor market with their families. Flanking these vignettes of everyday life are two additional Kessler frescos representing the history and future of the postal service, the Pony Express and air mail.

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