By Anne Levin

It has been nearly two years since Triumph Brewery Company got approval from Princeton’s Planning Board to turn the former U.S. Post Office branch on Palmer Square into a restaurant. Yet the site, an anchor of the square, remains quiet, and no construction has begun.

“Triumph is all done with Planning Board review/approval, but it has not yet submitted construction plans and applied for building permits,” said Princeton’s Planning Director Michael La Place, in an email this week. Attempts to reach Triumph’s owner Adam Rechnitz, as well as the manager of Triumph’s current location on Nassau Street, were unsuccessful.

It was back in 2013, when the U.S. Post Office announced that the Palmer Square branch would be closed as the result of a nationwide downsizing, that developer David Eichler won a bidding war for the historic building. The post office moved to a smaller location on East Nassau Street in 2015.

Several issues, involving easements encroaching on municipal property and protected state park land, stalled final approval of the deal. When finally approved, the proposal included a new glass entrance at what was previously the loading dock of the old post office. Eichler and Rechnitz pledged to preserve the historic character of the 80-year-old building, the oldest on Palmer Square, while adapting it for use as a 300-seat restaurant. In addition to the glass enclosed entry, plans included a widened sidewalk, benches, and the planting of trees.

Plans call for the former main hall of the post office to become the dining room, and the basement and former mail sorting area to also be used.

The post office was built in 1937 and contains a mural done in 1937 entitled America Under the Palms. The mural, which became controversial because of the way it depicts Native Americans, is to remain, the owners said at the time of approval.

Triumph has been located in a former bowling alley at 138 Nassau Street for 24 years. The company has additional restaurants in Red Bank, and New Hope, Pa.

Eichler was represented by local attorney Richard Goldman. At the review by the Planning Board, Goldman said there were no plans to change the building. “Our goal is to restore, preserving as it looks today except for the new glass entry in the back. The remaining facades will stay as they are.”

Leading up to approval, the project involved input from the Princeton firms Mills and Schnoering Architects and Richardson Smith Architects. Mills and Schnoering were responsible for the exterior, while Richardson Smith was involved in design for the interior.

Goldman said this week that he does not know the reason for the project’s holdup. “I’m as in the dark as you are,” he said. “It’s a shame, because I really liked the design when they got it approved. So I hope they do it.”