Kalamazoo Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse

Construction on Kalamazoo's downtown post office began in the 1930s as part of the New Deal program. The building was designed as a collaboration among Supervising Architect of the Treasury Louis Simon, Kalamazoo architects Rockwell Leroy and Manuel M. Newlander, and George D. Mason and Company of Detroit. Construction was completed in 1939. The building was used as a post office until 1959, when the main post office moved to a new facility on Miller Road. Between 1962 and 1963, the building was renovated to house court and federal office space.[2] As of 2019, it continues to house federal offices, including the U.S. District Court, as well as U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Probation, Pre-trial Services, and Marshals Service.[3]

The Kalamazoo Federal Building is an Art Moderne building constructed of reinforced concrete, with the primary facades clad in Kasota limestone. The Michigan Avenue facade has two primary entrances, one at each end, that incorporate Art Deco metalwork. Between are tall windows separated by fluted piers, giving a vertical component to the strongly horizontal structure of the building.[2]