Before it was officially opened in January of last year, the owners of La Poste in Perry spent around four years refurbishing the building. Their efforts were recently recognized by the State Historical Preservation Society with a prestigious award.

Once upon a time, the building was the Perry Post Office. It became the school administration building in the 1960’s, when the post office moved to its current location. When the school administration moved to its current location, the building sat empty until it was purchased in 2012 for just $1 by three Perry women, including Jenny Eklund. Eklund says when they purchased the building, they filed for state and federal tax credit money to help with its renovation.

Because they used the tax credit program, they qualified for the State Historic Preservation awards, which contacted Eklund about applying. She explains, “So they sent us some paperwork. And then next thing I know, Paula Moore with the State Historic Preservation Society called me and said, ‘Jenny, I got good news for you. You guys won the most prestigious award for the refurbishment of La Poste. It’s the Adrian Anderson Award.’”

The Adrian D. Anderson Award recognizes outstanding preservation of a small historic preservation project using the tax credit program incentives. It was presented to Eklund and the other two owners of La Poste last Thursday in Fort Dodge. Eklund says there were 69 other buildings around the state up for awards, most owned by investors, contractors, firms, and business groups. La Poste was the only building that was privately owned.

To hear more about the award and La Poste’s history, listen to Thursday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.