Locals react to plans for West Lynn post office

LYNN – A plan by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to relocate the West Lynn post office is being met with mixed reviews.”I’m not concerned because if they do they will be staying in the area,” said Nancy Gorman. “And they’ve been trying for 30 years to move but they haven’t yet.”Ward 6 Councilor Peter Capano agreed this is not the first time the Postal Service has talked about moving the West Lynn branch.”They’ve talked about doing this before and nothing came of it but they seem pretty serious this time,” he said.According to a press release issued by the USPS, the plan is to relocate to a smaller location in the same zip code.”This is small,” said Marina DeFronzo. “They think this is too big?”The squat brick building located at 776 Western Ave. is 5,500 square feet. The rectangular lobby area holds a bank of post office boxes, a small counter and a kiosk where patrons can fill out postal forms.USPS officials say the search is on for a new facility with about 1,000 square feet of space that will also offer full retail services, which Capano said would be a good thing.”We’re interested in keeping constituent services the way they are,” he said.Capano said postal officials are looking at a few different places including the Factory of the Future site where the new Market Basket is slated to go.DeFronzo doesn’t live in West Lynn but her boyfriend does so she uses the post office regularly and said she would miss it if it was moved.”This is convenient,” she said.But when she heard it might only move down the street to the new Market Basket site, she said she was fine with that. DeFronzo said she also heard the move wouldn’t likely take place for another year.Postal officials state they are hoping to go before the City Council in the near future to explain the details.Antonio Bolo is skeptical about the plan. She likes the Western Avenue branch because it’s walking distance from her home.”Fourteen years I’ve been around here and I’ve always come here,” she said, pointing to the post office. “I don’t feel comfortable going to the bigger one downtown.”Bolo said the downtown branch is in an unfamiliar neighborhood that makes her uneasy.Ward 7 Councilor Rick Ford said he also hopes the move doesn’t happen.”It’s sad,” he said. “The building is kind of a landmark. I bowled at the Post Office bowling lanes when I was a kid.”Ford said there was a bowling alley in the basement of the post office where he would feed (professional) bowler Mike Morgan hot dogs, “because I could never beat him at bowling.”He said he thought it was interesting that they would want to relocate the post office but “my gut feeling is I hope they would leave it where it is.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].