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Broadway’s new post office is not pretty — but it’s open

Postal customers who were surprised to find the Broadway post office closed over the weekend will also probably be surprised to find the service reopened Monday after a move to its new Capitol Hill home.

They should read CHS.

The US Post Office has moved its facility two blocks north on Broadway into the giant retail space left empty by the exit of OfficeMax. The office supply chain’s signs still hang above the address — 212 Broadway E for those of you into this kind of thing. The new facility remains in the veritable juicy middle of Capitol Hill just up the street from the about to open Capitol Hill Station.

Inside, you will find most of the space has been devoted to processing and banks of post office boxes. The retail counter is smushed into a back corridor. The red and blue paint is still bright. Government posters have yet to be posted. The racks and shelves of packaging material, etc. were yet to be stocked.

But the facility — one of the few remaining visible reminders that a federal government exists and loves you — is open for business. Hours will remain the same — 9 AM to 5:30 PM Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturdays. Your only challenge might be finding where they stuck your PO Box.

The new 4,200 square-foot post office will eventually be joined by a small retailer to fill in the full OfficeMax space. The small space next to the post office remains for lease, CHS is told.

Meanwhile, the permit to demolish the old post office is in motion but not yet approved by the city. Eventually, this six-story apartment building will rise at the site at the corner of Broadway and Denny. In the meantime, however, the Hill is saying goodbye in the only way it knows how:

New Post Office - 1 of 10

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Timmy73
Timmy73
8 years ago

All I need from the P.O. is it to be efficient, accurate and accessible. Glad they have a new home to service the neighborhood.

NT
NT
8 years ago
Reply to  Timmy73

EXACTLY! Who cares if it’s pretty. Can I go in and mail my stuff off? Yes? COOL! It’s not like they really want people hanging around inside enjoying the lavish decoration.

oops
oops
8 years ago

I sure hope that the mailbox in front of the old post office is still being serviced? I walked right past the old building today and didn’t even notice that it was closed. I dropped mail in the box, but I assume that is still functional/serviced?

Kid
Kid
8 years ago
Reply to  oops

The same thought occurred to me because I also dropped mail in the box without noticing that the Post Office had relocated. I’m sure that the Postal workers are still picking up from there because of people like us!

Max
Max
8 years ago

I walked by while a postal worker was taking down the flag from the old location Saturday morning. It was absolutely the dirtiest flag I’ve ever seen. Perhaps hamburger soot?

bad ideas
bad ideas
8 years ago
Reply to  Max

You should have asked to taste it. Then we’d all know the answer!

Tom
Tom
8 years ago

They must not have thought of the employees when they decided to paint the walls bright blue and red.

AMc
AMc
8 years ago

It would have been nice if the new post office had a self service machine; it would definitely cut down on the wait time. Today I waited in line for 15 minutes. They also need to change the sign outside the front… it still says Office Max.

Robin
8 years ago

I’m a little confused by your statement about the post office being a reminder that the federal government loves us. While the government does have some input into the mail service, USPS was, last I knew, a private company.

Preppy6917
Preppy6917
8 years ago
Reply to  Robin

It’s an independent agency of the federal government–one of few explicitly authorized by the US Constitution.

Gracie
8 years ago
Reply to  Robin

Per the web: “The Congressional Research Service, part of the Library of Congress, had this to say:

The USPS often is mischaracterized as a quasi governmental or private entity. It is neither. The USPS is a government agency that was created by Congress to achieve various public purposes. Federal law defines what products and services the Postal Service may offer. Additionally, the USPS’s employees are federal employees who participate in the Civil Service Retirement System, the Federal Employees Retirement System, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.”

dan
dan
8 years ago

…and loses $BILLIONS every year. (on track for $6 billion for 2015) because of massive pension and retirement obligations coupled with inefficiencies and mismanagement. It has lost $46 Billion since 2007! Time for it to end. We can use email, electronic payments and UPS and afford to solve homelessness at the same time.

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
8 years ago
Reply to  dan

You forgot to mention that the reason they have such massive debt and pension obligations, is that Congress, in its infinite wisdom, and no doubt attempting to MAKE it fail so it can be sold off to the private companies that bribe Congess, saddled the USPS with the requirement to PRE-FUND all their pension and retirement obligations. Nobody else has to do that. It’s not because they suck. It’s because they’re don’t get a level playing field.

Greg M
Greg M
8 years ago
Reply to  Jim98122x

Canada and the UK (and many other countries) have successfully privatized their postal services. In Canada, they save money by only making rural deliveries twice a week and asking truly rural people to come to the post office to get their mail. The USPS can be competitive in cities but because every rural congressman can scream, they can never institute changes that would allow them to stanch the bleeding in rural areas.

On your note about pre-funding of pensions, it’s worth noting that corporate pension plans are also required to maintain enough pre-funding levels to pay for covered retirees. The USPS is simply forced to do the same so that its plan does not become insolvent as so many other government plans are becoming.

poncho
poncho
8 years ago
Reply to  dan

ha “solve homelessness”, what a joke. talk about an endless blackhole that money gets flushed down while the problem gets exponentially worse

Jeff
Jeff
8 years ago
Reply to  poncho

your comments shows how ignorant you are.
The post office is not paid for by tax dollars Zip, Nada ..none!

It makes money (or not) by selling postage

Would you rather have UPS or Fedex gouge you?

dan
dan
8 years ago
Reply to  Jeff

Jeff,
Careful who you’re calling stupid. How do you think Congress makes up for the $Billions in losses of the USPS every year? Out of their own pockets? Bake sales? Or do you suppose all the employees, retired or employed, take an IOU?

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
8 years ago
Reply to  dan

The losses are a direct result of the ridiculous rules Congress makes the USPS play by, which other companies don’t have to. FedEx and UPS skim the cream and leave the Post Office as the carrier of last resort. Be careful what you wish for. If they’re forced out of business, you think UPS or FedEx will deliver a 1st Class letter to somewhere in Alaska for 49c?

dan
dan
8 years ago
Reply to  Jim98122x

Brad, you’re right, but how often do you need to send a letter to Alaska? I’m happy to pay $5 once every 20 years if I do. Granted, that’s not comforting to those out in the corner of Alaska, but should we all pay for their junk mail deliveries when the internet can handle 99% of their needs? Heck, take some of that $6 billion and give them free internet!

bb
bb
8 years ago
Reply to  dan

As a normal enterprise, the USPS would have gone out of business decades ago.

Brad
Brad
8 years ago
Reply to  bb

Hence why they are a government entity. UPS and FedEx don’t make money delivering to Auntie Sue in SmallTown, Arkansas. That’s why the post office does. (And also why UPS and FedEx subcontract out their last mile often to the Post Office).

Greg M
Greg M
8 years ago
Reply to  Brad

The USPS makes the vast majority of its revenue delivering bulk mail from advertisers. Why are we keeping a system around so that Pottery Barn and Ikea can deliver huge catalogs at below-market prices?

Facts Я Us
Facts Я Us
8 years ago
Reply to  bb

Hell, a lot of private businesses would have gone out of business decades ago if not for government subsidies. Your point?

GregoryH
GregoryH
8 years ago

Only on this website would a news article about the relocation of the post office become a debate about whether the post office should exist at all, or whether it has been saddled with unfair rules by congress.

I haven’t been into the new location yet, but from the sounds of it, they put the counter in the back, rather than up front, so the view from the sidewalk is just a bank of POBs? seriously? and they didn’t add a self serve postage machine? Now those are two things to get mad about!

dan
dan
8 years ago
Reply to  jseattle

Waaaay deep!

Debbie
7 years ago

It’s friendly helpful and better reguards to mailing .it’s ghost has followed them. Can’t find package or returns. Now uses a box with key for other items.No line ya ! The ghost has followed them.