Iowa City Post Office Considering Moving Out of Clinton Street Location
Hughes
5-17-13
 
The United States Postal Service is considering changes to the Iowa City Post Office that would include moving out of their main offices at 400 S. Clinton St.
 
USPS spokesman Richard Watkins said assessors are examining cost saving measures in Iowa City and Coralville that would include reducing the size of the retail operation and no longer having carriers operate out of Iowa City.
 
Instead the mail carriers would operate their same routes out of the currently vacant Western Annex at 2150 James St in Coralville, a building the post office already owns.
 
Watkins said the post office would then move retail operations from the main offices to a smaller space that is still located in downtown Iowa City. The new space would need to be large enough to hold P.O. Boxes and window operations but would require much less space than the current main office.
 
The U.S. General Services Administration owns the building at 400 S. Clinton St.
GSA Regional Public Affairs Officer Angela Brees said in an email that the GSA is currently extending the postal service’s occupancy agreement through February 2014. Brees said if at any time the postal service decides to vacate the building, the GSA would look to identify a new federal tenant before the post offices leaves.
 
Iowa City Postmaster Stacy St. John said assessors from the USPS Western Service Area offices are conducting cost analysis studies to determine the financial benefits from such a move, but there is no timetable for the completion of those studies.
 
Watkins said the changes being examined would seem to make operations far more efficient but emphasized no decisions have been made and said they are still in the process of evaluating finances.
 
As of 2012 the USPS lost over $25 billion in the five previous years and was projected to lose another $83.2 billion through 2016. To address its dire financial circumstances the USPS set out to review nearly half of its 31,000 post offices to identify opportunities to save money by consolidating facilities, reducing hours, or closing post offices.
 
St. John said assessors in Iowa City were looking exclusively at the lease costs of the Clinton St. building and that staffing agreements for the post office would not be affected. She also said that under no circumstances would Iowa City mail service be suspended.

At a Monday meeting, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors brought up renting office space for the county in the 400 S Clinton St building if the post office does move out.