Wednesday, Sep. 03, 2008

Parrish post office opens for business

Parrish's new post office served its first customers Tuesday, and gave staff the working space they've badly needed for years.

"It was very tight. In order to get to something, you had to move something else," said post master Deana Conrad of the old facility. Previously, postal workers used a trailer and tent to sort mail.

Tucked away near the railroad track in the heart of Parrish, the small post office for years was a visible reminder of growth in the community.

But with the opening of the new post office, gone are the days that the postal workers sort mail in cramped corridors. Now, there's room to spread out and work. There's even an office designated for the post master to meet with employees or customers, Conrad said.

Near the fire station on U.S. 301, the 8,500-square-foot facility features more postal boxes, a separate room to send packages or buy stamps and plenty of parking.

"The facility is large enough to handle the growth from the past couple of years and the growth we're going to have," Conrad said.

Now that the Parrish post office is more visible, Conrad expects more customers in the future.

"We're a lot more visible than the other place. A lot of people used to pass us by," she said.

Despite the sheer volume of mail that was handled by the workers at the former facility each day, lines weren't long, which was a secret kept in the area for a long time, Conrad said.

Resident Bill Lozito, who has lived in the area since the early 1990s, said the old post office had room for just a few customers, which made it a tight squeeze. He was pleased that the new post office would enable workers to better meet the needs of the community.

"The other one was good when it started, and then the area grew too much," he said. "They were still good for service. They should be even better."

Bob and Betty Kitts, residents of nearby Twin Rivers, stopped by for the first visit Tuesday. The couple finds the new location to be a much nicer facility and closer to home.

"We've just been watching it be built," Betty said. "It's the first time we've seen it completed."

Some residents, though, are disappointed in the location of the post office.

Residents learned that when U.S. 301 is widened and a median is placed in the road, northbound customers will have to make a U-turn at County Road 675 or take 121st Avenue around the block to arrive at U.S. 301 and head south-bound.

Even though resident Mark Snider lives directly behind the post office on 121st Avenue, he has to take 121st Avenue, make a right on 69th Street, another right on U.S. 301 and then turn right into the post office.

"They should have found another location or laid this out a little better," he said.

But an alternate route has been worked out to allow customers into the back end of the post office directly from 121st Avenue, said U.S. Postal Service spokesman Gary Sawtelle.

The post office obtained an easement from the Parrish fire station to build an access road from 121st Avenue to the post office. Construction should begin in about two weeks, Sawtelle said.