The Postal Service is trying to save money by closing or relocating some of its post offices. But the idea isn't going over so well at the main Post Office in La Jolla.
This is the commercial core of La Jolla where a lot of the businesses are locally owned. It's also where the main post office has sat for 77 years on the corner of Wall Street and Ivanhoe Ave. Now the Postal Service wants to downsize and move from this location.
Resident Joe LaCava said "this is not just a La Jolla situation." LaCava is with the Save our La Jolla Post Office Task Force. He said other communities have fought the battle and lost, but there's a growing awareness of how important the post office is to this community.
"Something that frankly a lot of people kind of take for granted. But once you tell them that the post office might be moving, it has been uniform their reaction, everybody is saying "no" we've got to keep it here," LaCava said.
When this facility opened in 1933 the cost to mail a letter was only three cents -- today's its 45 cents.
Eva Jackson with the postal service said this is about cost cutting. "They're not going to lose this building and the historic nature of it. It may not be a post office any longer, but they're not going to lose their building.
Jackson said this maybe the only post office in the county being relocated. It does bring in revenue, but it doesn't need as much space to operate. "So now we only use this front section and the P.O. Boxes. So we're actually looking for a storefront with about 6,100 square feet," she said.
But first the postal service must find a suitable buyer who agrees to keep the building's historical features in tact. And then find a location to move the post office -- within a mile of this spot.
"We want to be part of that conversation and let both the post office as well as any potential buyers know what the community thinks would be a good use of this space, said LaCava.
A community forum will be held Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the La Jolla Rec Center.
The Postal Service will hold its first public meeting at the end of April.
