Post office moving to ex-Charly’s Market space
It seems the Eau Claire post office is stuck on downtown tighter than a self-adhesive first-class stamp. The U.S. Postal Service informed the city Monday that it will relocate the post office just a few blocks from its current location at 126 N. Barstow St. to a new address at 225 E. Madison St. in a recently built mixed-used building. The latter space, which is now vacant, once housed Charly’s Market, a short-lived grocery store that closed at the beginning of 2013. The post office will lease about 7,000 square feet, encompassing the former Charly’s storefront as well as adjacent empty space, said Mike Schatz, the city’s economic development director.
The post office will lease about 7,000 square feet, encompassing the former Charly’s Market storefront as well as adjacent empty space.
The move out of the current building, which the post office has occupied since 1962, has been long anticipated. Declining mail volume means that the Postal Service doesn't need the 27,000 square feet it currently has. The government’s lease on the current post office expires at the end of September, and the city Redevelopment Authorities owns the building and plans to demolish it to make way for a parking ramp and possibly new commercial development.
After months of anticipation and uncertainty – the Postal Service looked at multiple locations around Eau Claire, including the former Burger King site at the corner of Madison and North Barstow streets – the decision is a relief for the city. “A downtown site was definitely a preferred site,” Schatz said, “and the beauty of this site is the main building is up” and all that will be needed are some internal improvements to make way for the post office.
While keeping the post office downtown is a boost for ongoing redevelopment efforts, Schatz noted that it will also benefit the Postal Service, which won’t have to move far, as well as customers, who have been accustomed to buying stamps and mailing packages downtown for generations.
