Everett Post Office awaits new forwarding address

EVERETT — The main post office in Everett is a bit closer to moving, although a date still has not been set.

A sign listing the building for sale recently went up, and the U.S. Postal Service is looking for a smaller space to serve as the city’s main facility.

The move depends on when the Postal Service finds a new building, spokesman Ernie Swanson said.

“We had four tentative offers for a replacement location. None of them completely meet our criteria, so we’re continuing to look,” Swanson said.

The Postal Service is looking for approximately 12,000 square feet of space, with ample parking and a loading dock.

The current building at 3102 Hoyt Ave. is about 45,000 square feet.

When the building it was new, the style was thought to be modern. It was dedicated on June 28, 1964. U.S. Sen. Henry M. Jackson, Everett Mayor Bud Alexander and Everett Postmaster Sam Manus were in attendance to mark the occasion, according to the Herald archives.

The building stands on the site of the former Jefferson School, a Romanesque building built in 1894 which was the first brick school on Everett’s “Bayside,” the informal name for the neighborhood west of Broadway.

“It was some of the finest architecture in the community,” said David Dilgard, a historian with the Everett Public Library.

Designed by architects C. Ferris White and William Moller, it cost $26,000 to build and survived until it was demolished to make way for the new post office.

“We got a somewhat nondescript building to replace it,” Dilgard said.

Until 1964, the main Everett post office was located in the Federal Building at 3006 Colby Ave., a Greco-Roman Revival building now occupied by Chicago Title Co. That building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The USPS has been downsizing in an effort to get its costs under control. The federal agency lost $5 billion in 2013 and nearly $16 billion in 2012, and increased the price of a first class stamp this year to 49 cents.

In the agency’s third fiscal quarter of 2014, which ended June 30, it lost $2 billion. It has lost money in 21 of the past 23 quarters, the exceptions being when it was allowed to reschedule its required retiree health care contributions.

Under a 2006 law, the USPS is required to fully fund retiree health benefits for its entire workforce in advance, to the tune of $5.5 billion-$5.8 billion per year through 2016.

Consolidating its facilities has been part of the agency’s cost-containment strategy.

The USPS still has a retail operation at Paine Field Station, at 2201 100th St. SW, but it is considering moving its mail carriers to a building it owns on Hardeson Road, Swanson said.

The Hardeson Road facility was downsized in 2012 when the USPS consolidated mail processing operations in Seattle. Nearly 100 workers were laid off.

At the same time, the USPS is awaiting the construction of a new building near its Edmonds station, located at 7601 Olympic View Drive. The services will move into that building when it’s completed, Swanson said.

When the downtown Everett station closes, it is expected that retail services will remain unchanged.

“There may be some shifting of personnel but no layoffs are planned,” Swanson said.

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.