| Former Colombo General Post Office | |
|---|---|
 The General Post Office – Janadhipathi Mawatha (President's Street), Colombo Fort (c. 1900) | |
 Interactive map of Former Colombo General Post Office | |
| General information | |
| Type | Government office |
| Architectural style | Edwardian |
| Location | 17 Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo Fort,Colombo,Sri Lanka |
| Coordinates | 6°56′09″N79°50′36″E / 6.9359°N 79.8434°E /6.9359; 79.8434 |
| Current tenants | vacant |
| Construction started | 29 August 1891 (1891-08-29) |
| Completed | July 1895 (1895-07) |
| Cost | Rs. 372,961.65 (1895) |
| Client | Ceylon Post and Telecommunications Department (Sri Lanka Post) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 2 |
| Floor area | 1,721 m2 (18,524.7 sq ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Herbert Frederick Tomalin |
| Architecture firm | Public Works Department |
| Main contractor | Arasi Marikar Wapchi Marikar |
The formerColombo General Post Office (abbreviated:GPO), at 17 Janadhipathi Mawatha,Colombo Fort, was the headquarters of theSri Lanka Post and the office of thePostmaster General for over one hundred years, from 1895 until 2000.
The first permanentpost office in the country was established by theBritish in Colombo in 1882, when the country was acrown colony.[1] It was housed in several different locations until the construction of the General Post Office building at 17 Kings Street (now known as Janadhipathi Mawatha),Colombo Fort, opposite the-thenGovernor's residence at King's House (now thePresident's House) in 1895.[2] The site, bounded by Kings Street, Prince Street (now Srimath Baron Jayathilake), Baille Street (now Mudalige Mawatha), was a former rock quarry.[3] The building was designed by Herbert Frederick Tomalin of the Public Works Department[4][5] and built by Arasi Marikar Wapchi Marikar.[6] Tomalin (1852–1944) was an English engineer/architect, who migrated to Ceylon in June 1886 to take up a position in the Ceylon Civil Service. His first position was as a District Engineer however as a result of his involvement in a number of government buildings in Colombo and his architectural qualifications he was entrusted with the job of designing and supervising the construction of the GPO. In 1922 he returned to England.[7] Marikar (1829–1925), a localmason/builder and the paternal grandfather of SirRazik Fareed, constructed a number of landmark buildings in Colombo, including theNational Museum of Colombo,Colombo Fort Clock Tower, former Colombo Town Hall,Galle Face Hotel and Colombo Customs building.[8][9]
Construction commenced on this two-storeyEdwardian style building, with the official laying of thefoundation stone on 29 August 1891 and was not completed until July 1895,[5] although partial occupation of the building occurred in January that year. The cost of construction wasRs. 372,961.65[10] (Rs. 160,000 over the original construction budget)[5] with the steelwork fabricated byWalker Sons and Company and the granite sourced from quarries inRuwanwella andRatnapura. It took a workforce of 375, including 180 specialist craftsmen, almost five years to build.[5] The building was constructed in a typicalColonial renaissance architectural style, with its 775 m2 (8,340 sq ft) basement designed alongDoric lines, the 1,721 m2 (18,520 sq ft) ground floor incorporatingIonic architecture whilst the matching upper floor featuresCorinthan influences.[6][11] The main entrance stairs lead into a public hall, the floor of which was laid with multi-colouredintaglio tiles, theescalier at the rear of the hall was finished with polished granite and the plaster ceiling hadpapier-maché enrichments.[12]The ground floor contained the parcel and postage stamp counters, the money order and savings bank counters, the registration and poste restante counters. The offices of the Postmaster-General, Superintendent of Telegraphs and the Resident Postmaster's quarters were located on the second floor, together with the Telegraph Department and Telephone Exchange.[12]
The building served not only as the post office but also as the country's first telegraph and telephone exchanges,[13] the Ceylon Post and Telecommunications Department having acquired the Oriental Telephone Company in January 1896 for a sum of Rs. 42,666.[14][15] The first publictelephone booth in the country was installed in the GPO on 16 August 1909.[16][17]
On 21 January 2000 the building was formally recognised by theGovernment as anarchaeological protected monument in Sri Lanka.[18]
The GPO was moved in May 2000, for security reasons duringthe Civil War to the currentSri Lanka Post headquarters,[11] a modern nine storey building, at 10 D. R. Wijewardene Mawatha (formerly McCallum Road), which also hosts thePostal Museum.[19][20] Sri Lanka Post was only given 24 hours to vacate the building, which was then occupied by the Presidential Security Division.[11]
The building was used to stage the fourth annual Colomboscope, a multi-disciplinary arts festival in August 2016. The event featured installations from Sri Lankan and International artists and performers.[21][22]
In June 2017 the United Postal Trade Union went on a three-day strike in order to stop the government's plans to sell theNuwara Eliya,Kandy andGalle Fort post offices to private developers, and seek the re-location of the Colombo General Post Office back to its original building inColombo Fort.[23][24] The strike was called off following written assurances being provided by the Government that they would address the union's concerns.[25]
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