Is the Linden Post Office back on the roster of stations to be closed?

By IKE MGBATOGU
Contributing Writer

COLUMBUS – Is the Linden Post Office back on the roster of stations to be closed?

No, said an official of the U.S. Postal Service.

That response certainly clears up a lot of confusion over whether that station is slated for closure after media reports indicated otherwise.

According to the U.S. Postal Service, the Linden station is not on that doomed list.

“Linden station is not on the list of stations to be closed,” U.S. Postal Service spokesman Victor Dubina told the Call & Post.

The Call & Post had initiated an inquiry into this because the station was once slated for closure years ago but, in September 2009, it was officially dropped from that roster.

Republican Congressman Patrick Tiberi fought hard to keep the station open, arguing that “Linden residents may be disproportionately affected by the possible closure.”

Actually, Tiberi didn’t just fight to keep the station open, he also successfully pushed to rename it after Clarence D. Lumpkin, a Black community solon affectionately called “The Mayor of Linden,” in recognition of his decades of service for the Linden community and the entire city of Columbus.

The Call & Post contacted Tiberi’s office last week about the story. His spokeswoman confirmed what Dubina said that the Linden Post Office is not on the list of stations to be closed.

But the station at Olde Town Station, 1035 McAllister Avenue made that list and will be closed on Feb. 25, said Dubina.

Dubina told the Call & Post that the Olde Town Station is just one of 2,000 post offices the U.S Postal Service considered closing nationally largely because these stations are not able to sustain themselves financially.

There are about 32,000 post offices across the country and about 80 percent of them are struggling to generate enough revenue to remain solvent, postal service officials said in a statement.

Last year alone, the U.S. postal service lost $8.5 billion.

"Given the extraordinary decline in mail volume — a decline of about 32 billion pieces in the last two years alone — we must take action to reduce the size of our retail and delivery network," said Dr. Joshua D. Colin, district manager for the Postal Service’s Columbus district.

"By consolidating, streamlining and adjusting our operations, the Postal Service becomes a more efficient and effective organization."

The report on station closings came as a result of a study published in the Wall Street Journal that 2,000 small stations could be eliminated after considering a total of 3,300.

The study began in 2009 and looked at ways to consolidate stations to save money. Though stations were consolidated by closing some, officials said that customer service will not be affected and there would be no layoff of staff.

All said, nationally, a reported 491 facilities will be closed.