Roseville's Old Town Pizza moving into historic Post Office building
ROSEVILLE — It's a taste of something different in a historic building in downtown Roseville as the old Post Office is being converted into a pizza joint.
Slice by slice, Old Town Pizza has become one of the busiest restaurants in Roseville. They've been around for 25 years with locations in Auburn and Lincoln, but the current Roseville spot on Church Street has become so popular that they now need a bigger space.
"It will be a lot easier to get reservations," CEO Dawn Cederlund said of the move. "There's not going to be as much wait time. We'll be able to host more parties and events."
Cederlund said the historic Post Office building less than a mile away on Vernon Street is the perfect new location.
"It is the only remaining WPA project that is in Roseville, so it was built in the 1930s originally," she said.
The site has been vacant since the Post Office moved out two decades ago, and it's right across the street from city hall.
"We approached the city and said, 'We'd like to put our restaurant there,' and they've been completely supportive of that," Cederlund said. "They're very excited."
The old Post Office building is three times larger than the current Old Town Pizza location.
"We expect to add 70 or 80 people to our payroll," Cederlund said.
Plans call for topping the pizza building with an outdoor patio on the roof and adding a speakeasy in the basement with its own after-hours entrance.
However, renovating a historic building costs a lot of dough.
"It's going to be about an $8 million project in total," Cederlund said.
The city council has approved giving Old Town Pizza $100,000 in economic development money to help take a bite out of the cost.
"It's really in a prominent location that, once activated, will add to the vibrancy of our downtown," said Wayne Wiley, the City of Roseville's economic development manager.
It's the ingredients for something tasty and new in this historic old building.
"It's a landmark in the community and we're excited to be there," Cederlund said.
Old Town Pizza hopes to complete the renovations and be open by this time next year.
