The Saigon Central Post Office, one of Ho Chi Minh City’s icons, is undergoing a major restoration process for the first time in nearly 40 years, including a new paint color and a coating of nanomaterials.

Nguyen Duy, executive director of Kova Paint Group which is a local paint and waterproofing manufacturer, said on Tuesday that the group has decided to offer the Saigon Central Post Office a free nanomaterial coating.

The edifice, located at No. 2 on Cong Xa Paris Street in District 1, is of immense historical, cultural value and is now one of the city’s tourist attractions.   The post office is a stone’s throw from the Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral, another of the city’s signature structures.

The nanomaterial coating, to be applied over the water paint, can enhance the durability and luster of the paint layer by another 10 years without affecting the iconic edifice in any aspect, Duy added.

According to Tuoi Tre (Youth)’s observations, the new paint color is more visually striking than the former.

A café has recently been opened to the right of the edifice to cater to visitors.

The restoration work, which began in late August this year, is expected to be complete in time for the Lunar New Year celebration in February 2015.

Thanh Nien newspaper cited Nguyen Thi Thu Van, the central post office’s vice director, as saying that the restoration is the first major revamp it has undergone since 1975.   The facelift is mostly about applying a new paint layer with a brighter shade of yellow and making repairs to the roof and walls which have been dripping and scaling off over years of use.

Yellow is the building’s original color and also the Vietnamese post industry’s hallmark, Van added.

Working and opening hours remain unchanged at the edifice during the revamp.

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