City officials do not expect the Auburn Arts and Culture Center, which is under construction in the former Auburn Post Office on Auburn Avenue, to open before this September.

But it’s already got a name.

Look up, and you’ll see it in the bronze-colored letters that workers installed on the building’s facade this week: The Postmark Center for the Arts.

“A nod,” city officials say, “to both the history and function of the building.”

An artist’s conception of what the interior of the Postmark Center for the Arts will look like when it opens this fall. Courtesy photo.

The city is transforming the building into a space to empower diverse communities by providing the opportunity to unite within the shared language of the arts. When it opens, the facility will serve as a center for cultural arts, art and culture related events with building rental options.

Earlier this year, the city asked residents to submit formal names that took the building’s history, its location and its future function into consideration.

For those who don’t already know, the building opened in 1937 as a U.S. Post Office, which it remained until 1964, when the government opened the present post office on 3rd Street. The King County health department later leased the building and ran a clinic there for many years. When King County leased space for a new clinic on Auburn Way North, it left the old post office vacant for many years. Today, the city owns the building.

In recent years, the building earned historical landmark status.

Courtesy photo: The Postmark Center for the Arts began its long life of service as the Auburn Post Office.