Residents Want the Downtown Post Office

About 80 people harangued U.S. Postal Service decision-makers in Danbury City Hall Wednesday in an effort to save the Main Street Post Office.

The steady drumbeat of speakers called for an official U.S. Post Office presence on Main Street or certainly downtown. Speaker after speaker said they meant a genuine postal worker in a genuine post office.

“I go to the post office every day. I want to go to the post office. I don’t want to go to a private company,” said Jeff Green of Danbury, who has been working or living on Main Street for 33 years.

Frank Cappiello of Cappiello Jewelers said he or his employees visit the post office six or more times a day, and the idea of driving to what is now the main Post Office on Backus Avenue is simply out of the question.

“We need the services downtown,” Cappiello said.

While many people wanted to see the 1916 Main Street post office building renovated and restored to its former glory, others seemed to accept the idea the U.S. Postal Service is losing too much money nationwide to invest in this building on Main Street. That portion of the audience wanted a store-front post office or a smaller post office with post office boxes, U.S. Postal workers and more services than are now offered at the Main Street office today.

“I implore the U.S. Postal Service to maintain a post office presence on Main Street,” said former Danbury Mayor Gene Eriquez, who was speaking on behalf of Union Savings Bank, where he works as a vice president. He asked the postal service to be a partner with the businesses downtown that are thriving and growing, including the Danbury Hospital, both Western Connecticut State University and the Naugatuck Valley Community College. He mentioned banks and restaurants.

“The post office is much needed and much appreciated in downtown Danbury,” Eriquez said.

Guy Palacco, manager of post office operations, said the problem with the Main Street building is size and age.

"America is changing the way they use post offices," Palacco said. The Main Street building is about 95 years old and about 18,400-square-feet in size. The Postal Service is using a small portion of that space.

"It's too much building for the space we need right now," Palacco said.

He said the Postal Service is considering five alternative locations on Main Street or near Main Street that will be smaller. He also encouraged people to use alternative locations that sell stamps or offer other U.S. postal services.