Structural concerns may force Cape post office to relocate

The U.S. Postal Service may at least temporarily relocate its Cape Girardeau post office, moving out of the building it has leased at 320 N. Frederick St. for more than 38 years because of structural concerns.

Postmaster Mike Keefe said the letter carriers have been operating out of the postal service's regional processing center on the city's west side since early January. The move was made because of a leaky roof, he said.

The post office may move its retail operation at least temporarily to another site, although no decision has been made, Keefe said Tuesday.

The current owner of the building, C. Allin Means, a journalism professor in Durant, Okla., said the Frederick Street building had been plagued with a leaky roof for about six months.

Means said he paid to put a new roof on the building, a project that cost thousands of dollars. The work was completed about a week ago.

While the project was under way, the postal service sent down an engineer from its regional office in Kansas City to inspect the building, Means said.

The postal service concluded that "some structural beams" in the roof need to be inspected more closely, Means said. "Their engineers believe we need to remove the roof to see it," he said.

But Means said the agency doesn't want to pay to remove the new roof.

"We are not sure how we are going to proceed," he said. "We do know it is nice and dry in there right now."

The post office building was dedicated on June 7, 1965, and began regular operations on June 26 that year. It was built by a private developer and leased to the post office. The postal service has been leasing the building under a 50-year agreement that expires in 2015.

Means bought the 18,000-square-foot building in 1992. He said he won't object to the postal service relocating if it no longer wants to lease the building.

"We want to try to do what is best," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123