EXCLUSIVE
Work has been going on inside the old Bethesda Post Office on Wisconsin Avenue, near the Hyatt Bethesda hotel, for weeks. Now the historic building is on the market. The postal branch was turned over to Donohoe development last year, in a rapid closure of all of Bethesda post offices that raised questions about the level of developer and politician involvement.
The new post office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue has no convenient parking for customers, much less customers with disabilities. It is also too far from the center of town.
Only now is the property on the market for lease, because the USPS blundered in its negotiations, and was forced to pay Donohoe rent until now. That despite having vacated last year.
USPS has made no effort to find a new downtown site, and also never followed through on its promise to open a second branch in the 20816 zip code.
6 comments:
Maybe USPS should rent I again :) At least it has a few parking spots.
The USPS opened up a terrific post office just down Wisconsin -- not even a mile away...
Terrific inside, but it has no parking. And is too far from the center of town for those who have difficulty walking long distances. In an area with a large senior population, and 1-in-10 citizens having a disability, this was poor planning.
Ironically, senior citizens probably use snail mail (USPS) more than the average adult. Yet, they provided little parking for them. SMH...
I think developers took priority over demographics in the Bethesda Post Office debacle. Sad.
The history of the United States Post Office is routed in our country's freedoms. Its future depends on us, as a nation, to set the record straight. The Post Office difficulties lay with Congress; they have forgotten what their role is, and the post office isn't adapting fast enough to our ever changing world.
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