Days of corner post office over

Omaha could lose six post office sites because there are so many other ways for people to buy postage and send letters and packages, a postal official said today.

“We don't need a post office on every corner. The day and time for that is past,'' said Roger Humphries, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman in Omaha.

Omaha Postmaster Evajon Sperling is considering closing six Omaha post offices under a national station and branch consolidation study. Talks also are under way with Offutt Air Force Base officials about closing a post office there, Humphries said.

“I considered every station in the city of Omaha, and I looked at places that have lost customer visits and have lost revenue,” Sperling said. “And I believe I would be able to provide service that would be as good as what we could provide there.”

Opponents of the plan were quick to fight it. John Morrissey, a member of the American Postal Workers Union, collected signatures today on petitions to keep the site open. He worked outside Florence Station during his lunch hour.

Almost every person who passed by signed the petition. One signer, Harold McGinnis, said he has used Florence Station for 65 years.

The possible closures come at a time of decreased use and budget shortfalls at the U.S. Postal Service. Federal lawmakers today were to consider proposals to restructure the Postal Service.

Omaha offices considered for closure are at 16th and Vinton Streets, 17th and Farnam Streets, 24th and Lake Streets, 30th and Leavenworth Streets, 136th and Q Streets and the Florence Station.

Some of the targeted postal sites, such as the Vinton, Lake and Leavenworth sites, already operate with reduced hours and bare-bones staffing. No carriers operate out of the offices. The sites offer counter service and postal boxes.

The Lake and Vinton offices close at 11 a.m. during a Monday through Friday schedule. The Leavenworth site has longer weekday hours but is closed from 1 to 2:15 p.m. for lunch.

The Postal Emporium downtown on Farnam Street, a U.S. Postal Service site, is staffed by one or two clerks and is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The lobby is open Saturday mornings for access to postal boxes.

Postal Impressions on South 136th Street in southwest Omaha has one to four retail windows open seven days a week. Its hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Florence Station is the only one of the six targeted sites used as a base for carriers making home deliveries. It offers weekday and Saturday retail service. Florence Station's counter and carrier services would move to Ames Avenue Station, 3030 Meredith Ave.

Sperling said she expects to make a recommendation to the Postal Service by Aug. 19. Omaha postal officials will hold public hearings about the recommended closures before the deadline.

This group of possible closures and consolidations won't affect rural post offices in Nebraska and western Iowa, said postal service spokesman Brian Sperry. But that doesn't mean rural offices won't be under scrutiny in the future.

“Given our current financial situation, I think everything's on the table to be looked at, but currently the (rural) post offices are not being studied,” Sperry said.

Humphries said the proposed closings are similar to a decision several years ago to close the 24-hour facility at Eppley Airfield.

“People didn't use it, so that's what happens,'' he said.Access to postal services in Omaha should not be hurt, he said. Humphries said people may buy stamps and mail packages at grocery stories and other contract sites, order stamps for delivery to their homes, or print postage via the Internet and set out packages for pickup by their home carrier.

“There are many, many alternatives,'' he said.

World-Herald staff writers Elizabeth Ahlin, Roseann Moring and Rebecca Gratz contributed to this article, which includes material from the Washington Post.

Contact the writer:

444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com

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