Tag: postoffice

Two months ago the news came out that the U.S. Postal Service had decided not to build a new post office in Minden because of the economy. Well, Minden is not too happy about the decision and is going after the Post Office, even supporting the land owner whom the USPS was going to buy from, claiming they should reimburse the $160,000 he spent on his end of the deal. The Post Office says no way, they don't owe him squat.

Another casualty of the slumping economy? Minden's new post office.

The USPS has been scouring Minden looking for a place to build a new post office, and they think they've found one. From a list of four sites, they picked one at the corner of Ironwood and Monte Vista. You may be saying "Whaaaa? Where?", and you wouldn't be alone. This is a weird choice, at least right now, because at the moment this site is out in the middle of nowhere. But they must be looking towards the future, and looking at the promises that have been given by developers about that neighborhood, and decided that the population center of Minden will be shifting even more towards the spot as the years go by.

If you're not familiar with the corner of Ironwood and Monte Vista, first check out this map.

Monte Vista is the north-south road in the center of that satellite picture. It's unmarked, because the street is so new that Google hasn't added it to their maps yet. But this photo does accurately show how empty this part of town is. Ironwood Drive was plowed through the middle of a cow field some years ago, and stubby little intersections were added for future streets to hook up to. So far, only Monte Vista has been built, crossing through Martin Slough. If you follow Monte Vista further to the north, you'll come across the new La Costa subdivision (home to asynconhome.info), and beyond that it connects to the just-opened Muller Parkway.

This is a popular corner. Already the Wild Goose Villa has been proposed for this same intersection. It would slide into that green patch to the east of Monte Vista. Other developments have been kicked around for the rest of the empty land you see here, and the whole place is zoned friendly to retail and residential. So it's clear that the Post Office sees this as the new hip part of town, and they want to get in on it now while the prices are still low and before it gets built up too much.

Moving a post office can be a big undertaking. And the first thing you have to do is find a new site, and that is the process Minden is involved in now. Their post office has outgrown its current location along Hwy 395 across from CVI, so they're looking for a new spot. And so far they've identified four possible locations. Two are on Monte Vista drive, which is out behind the Minden Medical Center, near Winhaven. A third site is an empty lot along County Road, and the fourth possibility would be to locate it in the new Minden Gateway center. I think the Gateway center makes the most sense; you want your post office located where it's not too far out of the way. The Gateway center is poised to be the biggest retail development in town, if it lives up to all its expectations. Plus it's in a great location, and seems to be a natural place for a post office.

The USPS in Minden is looking to relocate. The Minden post office is this tiny little box of a place that has been relatively untouched since 1974. It's in a prime location, though, right on Highway 395 across the street from the Carson Valley Inn. It's very nearly in the center of town, easily accessible by road and by foot. But the problem is that it's too small, and the lot it's on is boxed in and too small to build a replacement.

So the post office has to move, and the USPS has started the process of looking for a new space. It needs to be big and roomy, with plenty of parking. They look first for an existing building that fits the criteria, and if they can't find one they next look for an empty lot to build on. So I'm trying to think about downtown Minden, and what kind of empty buildings we have that would be a good match for the post office, and only one image keeps popping into my head.

Think they'll go for it?