From pizza to postal

By RYAN COLLINGWOOD

Staff Writer

ATHOL — The old, diminutive U.S. Post Office on Highway 54 has long been a staple of the Athol community.

So has the town's pizza and video rental hub, KKJ's Pizza Place, around the corner on what used to be U.S. 95. A few years ago, a highway widening project added lanes to the old two-lane U.S. 95 and rerouted the new highway to an overpass that bypasses the pizza business.

Now, since the old post office has become too small to safely and efficiently meet the needs of the community's 800 residents, it will relocate to the larger space at KKJ's.

On Thursday, the U.S. Postal Service announced the move.

A date has not been set for the post office to move to 29777 North Old Highway 95, and it isn't clear where KKJ's new location will be.

"The postal service anticipates providing the same services at the new location as we are currently providing to our customers at the existing location," USPS Vice President of Facilities Tom Samra said in an email. "The postal service plans to continue services at the existing post office until the replacement facility is open."

Employees of the post office on Highway 54 have groused about its lack of space and parking.

"When Christmas time comes, we don't have room to put anything anywhere," said postal clerk Kim Huber. "People put their mail on hold.

"We have a horrible time with parking here. Customers can't find places to park, but now we'll have a nice, big parking lot."

According to the postal service, a representative spoke with Athol Mayor Bob Wachter in October before holding a public meeting in January to review the situation.

Ok-Chu Mitchell, a cashier at a nearby gas station, is looking forward to the more spacious post office that will be nearly double its current size.

"It will be wonderful. Bigger is better," Mitchell said. "There's really not enough parking there right now."

Not everyone is thrilled about the ensuing change, though.

Athol rancher Colby Clark likes the convenience of the post office’s current location off Highway 54, which gets a lot more traffic than the road in front of the pizza place.

"It's going to be out the way for a lot of people," Clark said. "It's in a part of town not as many people go through.

The current post office and KKJ's are less than a mile from each other.

Markayla Evans, a young KKJ's cashier, has enjoyed her employer's pizza since her early childhood, she said.

"We've been around for about 20 years, I think," Evans said. "But things change.”