Postal Service Seeks Input on Closing La Grange Park Post Office

Residents of La Grange Park and nearby communities will have their chance to tell U.S. Postal Service officials what they think about the possible closing of the branch at 700 E. 31st St. But some customers leaving Thursday from the La Grange Park branch of the La Grange Post Office said they would be sad and disappointed if the postal service decides to close the building after making its study in coming  months.

The postal service last week announced it will study 3,700 retail offices—including La Grange Park, Hillside and Riverdale, among other Chicago suburbs—in the next step to “rightsize” its retail network and determine customer needs, as the need to maintain its nearly 32,000 retail offices diminishes. More customers are conducting their postal business online, on their smartphones, and at shopping destinations such as grocery, drug, office-supply and retail chain stores, postal officials said. 

”Our customers’ habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahue said.

Residents will be able to provide input 

In the next two weeks, the residents and businesses served by the La Grange Park Post Office will be given 60-days notice of the proposed action to study the office and to provide comments.

Also, a community meeting will be held to get input from the customers, according to Beverly Howard, in charge of corporate communications for the Central Illinois district of the postal service.  The locations for the meetings have not been established; they will be done within the 60-day notification period, she said in an email.

Meanwhile customers can write to www.usps.com or call (800)-275-8777 to provide input, she said.

“The voice of the community is important. The Postal Service wants to know the needs and concerns of the community before a decision is made to close the office,” Howard said.

Residents respond to possible closure 

Linda Woods of La Grange Park said she picks up her mail every day at the local post office because it is faster than waiting for delivery and sometimes letters accumulate in her mailbox.

“I would be very disappointed,” she said about a possible closing of her branch.

She would have to transfer her PO box from the La Grange Park branch to the main building in downtown La Grange.

Who will decide who stays and who goes?

Asked what criteria was used to make the list of which buildings might close, Howard  said, “The Postal Service is taking each office's financial situation into consideration, as well as its proximity to other Post Offices, station, branches, and expanded access locations such as Automated Postal Centers, grocery stores, Costco, Office Depot—or any other of the more than 70,000 places to purchase stamps.”

The decision which Post Offices will close will be made by the headquarters in Washington, D.C., she said.

The criteria used will include the effect closing a Post Office would have on the community served and employees of the facility; economic savings to the Postal Service; and other factors the Postal Services deems necessary.

Push toward online use

With the closing of local branches, Howard added, “Many services offered at post offices also can be found at usps.com. For example, customers can buy stamps, calculate postage, request a change of address and order shipping supplies, such as Priority Mail and Express Mail packaging and customs forms online.'

Customers also can request free package pickup from their home or office using usps.com. The push toward online services signals a change in how the Post Office currently views the best way to serve residents. 

A slow transition to La Grange

When asked last December whether the La Grange Park building might close, The building's lease expires in September, he said.

With space opening up in the , the carriers of 12 routes in La Grange Park were moved over there to save time, he said about empty space in the 31st Street building.

The clerks selling stamps and accepting packages to be mailed, post office boxes and mail collection boxes remained in La Grange Park. Cozzone said the mail collection boxes are heavily used and contents are brought to the main office three times a day.

The original plan had been to move the post office across the street into one of the storefronts in the strip mall on the south side of 31st Street, he said.

La Grange Park will keep 60526 ZIP code 

If the La Grange Park Post Office does merge into the downtown La Grange building, the community would still keep its 60526 ZIP code. 

La Grange Park's village president and village manager were unavailable to comment last week.