Downtown post office to move in 2009

Bloomington residents eager to see Bloomington’s Fourth Street post office stay downtown have one more day to voice their opinion, said Bloomington city councilman Chris Sturbaum.\nThe U.S. Postal Service has leased the downtown Bloomington location since the 1959, and from the First United Methodist Church since 2002. However, when the lease ends in 2009 the church will not be renewing the contract, said Kirk White, chairman of the church’s strategic planning committee.\nOriginally, the post office was likely to move out of downtown because of size considerations, Sturbaum said. \n“The U.S. Postal Service had a set formula for getting a five-acre property but that was incompatible with finding a location downtown,” Sturbaum said. “The input they’ve heard from the community across the board is ‘keep the post office downtown.’”\nThe U.S. Postal Service seems to be listening, Sturbaum said. He said it looks like the post office may not go as far as previously anticipated, thanks to the U.S. Postal Service reaching out to the community and considering its needs. \n“It is more of a collaboration than a dictatorship,” Sturbaum said. “Still, it is ultimately up to the bureaucracy of the U.S. Postal Service.” \nSturbaum encourages concerned citizens to contact Richard Drury of the U.S. Postal Service, who will be taking comments through Saturday, and urge the office to consider a downtown Bloomington location. \n“People make trips downtown and do lots of their errands together, which leads to less gas consumption and also means that people can get downtown in ways other than automobiles,” Sturbaum said. “It’s one of the civic buildings that holds the downtown together.” \nFirst United Methodist Church purchased the post office building and land in 2002 to accommodate for projected growth of its congregation, currently numbering about 1,500 members, White said. \n“Fifteen years ago, First Methodist Church as a congregation decided we wanted to stay an urban church downtown,” White said. “One of our goals was to have enough land available to be able to accommodate our future growth in facilities and parking.” \nAt the time of the purchase, the lease agreement with the post office was already in place, White said. \n“Soon after we purchased it in 2002, we told the post office that we would probably be looking at building on the land after 2009,” White said. “We told them that they should be looking for other options in case we decided not to renew, so they’ve had several years to consider.” \nIn the short term, the building will mostly likely be razed to provide parking for the church’s members, White said. Long-term plans include possible construction of additional function space for church activities. \n“Churches grow and change and we are not quite ready to build,” White said. “But it is a land bank to have ready for future development.” \nEighty-five percent of post office facilities are leased, usually for five years at a time, said Al Eakle, communications program specialist for the greater Indiana district of the U.S. Postal Service. Location is an important aspect of any post office, he said. \n “It is important to keep retail operations close to the community that we serve,” Eakle said. “Proximity to the customer is paramount to us.” \nTo contact Richard Drury, either e-mail him at Richard_Drury@sbcglobal.net or call 972-740-1872.