Downtown Northfield Post Office to Stay Open Through At Least May 15, 2012

The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday announced that it will not close or consolidate any Post Office or mail processing facilities until May 15, 2012.

That means the downtown Northfield Post Office, which has been with its annex on the south end of Northfield at 2101 Cannon Rd, will get at least five more months in its .

The announcement followed requests by multiple U.S. Senators. The Postal Service says it will continue all necessary steps required for the review of these facilities during the interim period, including public input meetings.

The Northfield City Council learned in October that the U.S. Postal Service wasn't moving forward with selling the post office in , meaning the facility would remain open for business indefinitely.

“The status of the facility is status quo,” said Councilor Suzie Nakasian, a member of the city’s task force, at that meeting.

That news came in a letter from postal officials to people working for Congressman John Kline (R-MN).

Though the USPS has given all identified post offices for consolidations or closure a repreive of sorts, it's unknown how long any site will get beyond that to continue operations as they are currently run.

Since August, city officials had been operating under the premise that the Postal Service would close the downtown post office, sell the historical building and move postal operations to the annex.

In an to Mayor Mary Rossing, the Postal Service to purchase the Bridge Square office for $1 and rent space to the USPS for free.

The city learned early this year that the USPS—mired in billions of dollars in debt—would close the Bridge Square post office in a . In response, residents formed the Save Our Post Office group to lobby government and postal officials to keep the postal facility .

The Postal Service says it hopes this period will help facilitate the enactment of comprehensive postal legislation. Given the Postal Service’s financial situation and the loss of mail volume, the Postal Service says it must continue to take all steps necessary to reduce costs and increase revenue.