Post Office to Address Closure of Historic Post Office

Redlands’ historic Main Post office on Brookside may eventually be under new ownership if the US Post Office follows through on a proposal to sell the historic building.

Eva Jackson, spokeswoman with the US Postal Service, said the building has been identified for sale. But it is not on the market yet. On Tuesday, May 21, Postal Service officials are hosting a meeting with the community where they will take comments on the sale, Jackson said. That meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. at the Main Post office, 201 Brookside Ave.

The Redlands Main Post Office operations would be consolidated with the Redlands-Lugonia Station a mile from of the main office. P.O. Box customers will be able to choose to move to the Lugonia or other post office with available boxes, postal service officials said.

A 25 percent decline in First-Class Mail volume since 2006 is part of the reason behind a the sale, officials said. USPS receives no tax dollars for its operations, relying instead on the sale of postage, postal products and services, officials said.

A sale of the building would not be a fast process, especially since the building is on the National Register of Historic Places, Jackson said.

Many Redlands residents are upset over the possible sale. Below is a portion of a letter that was circulated around the city with help from Citizens Action For Peace.

The Postal Service has retained the real estate professionals of CB Richard Ellis to handle the real estate transactions, according to a USPS news release.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Main Post Office on Brookside Avenue in Redlands, California. It's a downtown landmark, it's on the National Register of Historic Places, and it even has its own postal museum.

Now the Postal Service is closing down the Redlands Main Post Office and selling the building. Plans for the sale were first made public in early March 2012. A brief USPS press release stated that the Brookside office had been identified as " a valuable asset whose potential sale would generate much needed capital for the Postal Service."

The release goes on to say simply, "The Redlands Main Post Office will be consolidated with the Redlands-Lugonia Station."

The process has been moving forward since then, but largely out of public view.  Then in March of this year, post office box holders found a notice in their boxes telling them that the office would be closing in the near future and services transferred to the Lugonia office on New York Street.

The Postal Service has thus revealed, perhaps inadvertently, that the sale of the Redlands post office is not merely a plan under consideration. The decision has already been made.

Over the next few weeks, there will finally be a public meeting, and the Postal Service will make a show of listening to input from the public. It won't mean much. As usual, the Postal Service has put the cart before the horse. It has made a decision about what it’s going to do, and then asked for public comment.  That makes a sham of the whole process, but this is how the Postal Service interprets its mandate to act "like a business."