By BEN GRAFTON
Right on time Monday morning, Oct. 19, Freeport’s new post office on U.S. 331 N opened for business after materials and equipment were moved into place over the weekend.
Residents and visitors will be pleased with the new facility which, with a footprint a bit over 6,500 square feet, is twice the size of the old post office. The available number of post office boxes remains unchanged and the boxes may be accessed through a door on the south side of the building. The property is landscaped with sod and young oak trees already in place. Parking accommodates far more vehicles than the old facility and the traffic flow around the building itself will reduce the potential for fender-benders.
The building is designed for handicapped access. Visitors confined to wheel chairs will find easy access from the parking lot; a low-level counter top at the service desk; and wide doors equipped with mechanical actuators the size of saucers that will facilitate entry and exit from the building.
There is a covered bulk mail handling dock at the back of the building for deliveries and shipments by postal vans. Letters delivered to the dock come in from Panama City presorted for each carrier route serviced. Automated letter sorting, including a facility in Panama City, is done at rates of 40,000 letters per hour at selected sites along postal traffic routes; however, packages and oversized mail must still be sorted by hand.
At the present time there is only one service desk where patrons can buy stamps and arrange for special services like insurance or priority mail, but there is a wall section designed for removal and installation of an additional service desk at a future date.
The post office is served by 13 employees, including substitute carriers and Postmaster John E. Cugler. An official opening ceremony will be held in two to three weeks.
Drivers should note that there are two access roads off of U.S. 331 N to the Freeport Post Office. The post office is visible from the southernmost of these roads but no left turn by northbound traffic is permitted at this access point because of safety considerations. Northbound post office visitors must continue several hundred feet further to the northernmost access, closer to the crest of the hill, where visibility is better and a left turn lane accommodates incoming visitors. Southbound traffic can access the post office over either access road.
Contact Ben Grafton at pbgrafton@cox.net.