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Blue Springs, MO —
The U.S. Postal Service plans to close the downtown Blue Springs post office, a move advocates of downtown revitalization are already fighting.
The facility at 200 N.W. 11th St., which the Postal Service calls its “retail store,” is to be consolidated with the annex less than a mile away at 500 S.W. South Ave., east of Missouri 7 and north of Hy-Vee, the Postal Service confirmed Thursday.
“We don’t have a timeline,” spokesman Richard Watkins said.
Watkins added that renovations would be needed to the South Avenue facility, and he stressed that no one’s post office box number would be changed.
The move is largely driven by the Postal Service’s mandate to save money, even as its business declines and visits to post offices have fallen 27 percent in six years, according to the agency.
“We own both (facilities). We can sell one. We don’t need all that space,” Watkins said, adding that the downtown facility is a good commercial property. Selling it would bring the agency money and save it the costs of future maintenance. The annex is about double the size of the downtown post office, he said.
The Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce this week has been urging people to contact legislators and try to stop the move.
“We just don’t want it to leave downtown, obviously,” said Donna Best, chair of the chamber, pointing to efforts to bring more businesses and people to downtown. The post office is about half a block off Main Street.
Word of the possible change came up in a public meeting late last week, Best said, and she started asking questions. For example, she found out, the move is considered a consolidation rather than a closing, so the Postal Service isn’t required to hold a hearing, and, formally at least, there is no appeal.
“They can just move it,” she said.
Watkins confirmed that but also said the Postal Service “absolutely” listens to members of Congress when they speak up about closures. That’s the route the chamber is pursuing.
“The advice that I was given is that the squeaky wheel gets the oil, so we need to make as much noise as possible to let the post office know the location is important to us and that we want it to remain,” Best wrote in an email that went out to chamber members on Wednesday. She included contact information for federal and state legislators.
The U.S. Postal Service plans to close the downtown Blue Springs post office, a move advocates of downtown revitalization are already fighting.
The facility at 200 N.W. 11th St., which the Postal Service calls its “retail store,” is to be consolidated with the annex less than a mile away at 500 S.W. South Ave., east of Missouri 7 and north of Hy-Vee, the Postal Service confirmed Thursday.
“We don’t have a timeline,” spokesman Richard Watkins said.
Watkins added that renovations would be needed to the South Avenue facility, and he stressed that no one’s post office box number would be changed.
The move is largely driven by the Postal Service’s mandate to save money, even as its business declines and visits to post offices have fallen 27 percent in six years, according to the agency.
“We own both (facilities). We can sell one. We don’t need all that space,” Watkins said, adding that the downtown facility is a good commercial property. Selling it would bring the agency money and save it the costs of future maintenance. The annex is about double the size of the downtown post office, he said.
The Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce this week has been urging people to contact legislators and try to stop the move.
“We just don’t want it to leave downtown, obviously,” said Donna Best, chair of the chamber, pointing to efforts to bring more businesses and people to downtown. The post office is about half a block off Main Street.
Word of the possible change came up in a public meeting late last week, Best said, and she started asking questions. For example, she found out, the move is considered a consolidation rather than a closing, so the Postal Service isn’t required to hold a hearing, and, formally at least, there is no appeal.
“They can just move it,” she said.
Watkins confirmed that but also said the Postal Service “absolutely” listens to members of Congress when they speak up about closures. That’s the route the chamber is pursuing.
“The advice that I was given is that the squeaky wheel gets the oil, so we need to make as much noise as possible to let the post office know the location is important to us and that we want it to remain,” Best wrote in an email that went out to chamber members on Wednesday. She included contact information for federal and state legislators.
Watkins pointed out that the Postal Service gets no tax money for operations and has been ordered by its governing body to cut costs in the face of shrinking revenues. For example, last year the agency proposed closing hundreds of small post offices around the country – Levasy’s was one of them – but this year backed off that plan in favor of sharply reducing hours in many small towns. That’s being phased over the next year or so and will affect Levasy and Sibley, among hundreds of others.
Best acknowledged the need to cut and save.
“I understand that,” she said. “This could be very detrimental to our downtown and to our community.”
