Looking back – 20 years ago this week
A new Imperial Post Office facility with nearly double the space of the current building is scheduled for construction over the next few months.
The new building, to be built next to the Farmer’s Bank building on the I-55 outer road, will ease a space crunch that has worsened with each passing year.
The present 3,300-square-foot facility on Hwy. 67 has been in use since the early 1960s, and is no longer adequate for the size of the 63052 zip code, officials said.
“We’re really cramped here,” Supervisor Greg Vallo said. “There’s hardly enough room for all the carrier crates and that kind of stuff inside, and the parking is a problem, too.
“Just look at the way this area’s growing – as the routes grow it gets even more crowded.”
The Bison Group, a development company from Arkansas, has been awarded the contract to build the 6,496-square-foot building, which will then be leased to the Postal Service.
“That’s our policy in buildings of that size,” said Postal Service real estate specialist Candice Fuller from her office in Kansas City. “For buildings under 6,500 square feet, it is more cost-efficient for us to lease than to own.”
Fuller said the contract calls for completion of the building in late January.
“The company will have six months from the ‘notice to proceed’ date in August,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll have it done by then.
“But variables like the weather are always a consideration.”
Imperial officials expect to see a quick start to the project.
“One of the guys from Arkansas was in here the other day,” Vallo said. “He said he thought it would be about three weeks to the groundbreaking.”
Imperial Postmistress Elaine Russom could not be reached for comment.
