Published: May 26, 2008 12:01 am            

Miami post office closing

Residents concerned town will lose its identity.

MIAMI — Saturday will mark the first day in nearly 150 years that this southern Miami County community will not have its own post office.

The U.S. Postal Service recently informed residents of the community that, effective May 31, the Miami Post Office is suspending operations because of the condition of the building, which is owned by a local church.

The Postal Service is providing residents with mailboxes and assigning a rural route number. The mail service will come through the Bunker Hill Post Office.

Some residents are concerned that the closing of the post office will cost the town its identity.

Miami will continue to have its own ZIP code.

Shirley Miller, who was born and raised in Miami, is working with a group of local residents to keep a post office in the town.

“This takes away our identity,” she said. “Suspending operations is another way of closing it. If they close the post office, they have to conduct a public meeting.”

The town of Miami was founded in August 1859, and the post office opened in November, according to Miller.

She maintains the Postal Service never looked for another location and that Miami United Methodist Church offered to lease the former parsonage and to make the necessary renovations.

“A guy from the Postal Service came and walked around the building,” she said. “He said there was mold on the south end and back wall of the building. We’ve heard nothing since.”

Miller said the post office is a gathering place for town residents, a place to meet and discuss the latest news.

“I feel most people oppose the suspension of operations,” Miller said. “This is a small town, not a wealthy one. The people here have fought a lot and lost.”

Miller said the post office has been at its current location, a former elementary school, for 29 years. In the past, it has been housed in residential homes and storefronts.

Kelly Fitzpatrick has worked at the Miami Post Office for six years and been the officer in charge for the past year. The suspension may leave her without a job.

“The postmaster went to another office, and I was named the officer in charge,” she said. “It’s a coin toss as to whether or not they will find another position for me.”

Fitzpatrick said the lease on the space was set to expire and the building’s roof leaked.

“It is important to note that the church which owns the building couldn’t afford to make the repairs,” she said. “We can’t have the mail getting wet.”

Currently 108 postal boxes are rented and between 70 and 80 people visit the post office on a daily basis, according to Fitzpatrick.

“As far as I know, the post office is not looking for another location,” she said. “I prefer it would stay open. People complain a lot about it closing.”

Clark Rehme, a spokesman for Rep. Dan Burton, said the office has received a petition with 120 signatures opposing the suspension of services.

“Great Lakes Facilities Service and Greater Indiana District postal officials currently are reviewing their options, as there are strict guidelines required of a facility to house a Post Office,” Rehme wrote in a press release.

Miami resident Linda Catt is glad the service is being suspended, despite the fact her mother operated the post office from their home for 17 years.

“It’s nice to walk out of your house to get the mail,” she said. “It’s for the best.”

Another problem Catt noted was that the office hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and many residents can’t pick up their mail until the weekend.

Dixie Lancaster, a resident of Miami since 1964, was walking to the post office on Tuesday to mail a letter.

“All of my medications come by mail,” she said. “I don’t like the idea of having them left in a mailbox on the street.”

        

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