New Mail Branch Easing North Side Delivery

Thu., Aug. 6, 1998

By Kristen Kromer kristenk@spokesman.com

At the new Northpointe Delivery and Collection Unit, the floors glisten like a wet hockey rink. The 23,800-square-foot space, chosen for its proximity to potential growth areas, provides more-than-adequate room for the North Side’s letters, packages and delivery people.

“It’s too big now, but with the planned growth up north, it’ll fill up within 20 years,” predicted John DeCaro, customer services supervisor.

The U.S. Postal Service opened the new branch July 20 to ease the burden being placed on the old Rosewood Station.

The Northpointe site at 9857 N. Nevada St. now serves as the main hub for North Side mail delivery. It’s made a big difference for the folks at Rosewood.

“This building is just way too small,” said John Williams, window clerk at Rosewood Station, 6325 N. Monroe St. “There’s no room here.”

“Christmas was terrible there,” DeCaro added. “Rosewood is a third as large as (the Northpointe site).”

Williams said delivery boundaries expand daily with new housing and apartment complexes appearing on the North Side.

The major change made by building the Northpointe location is that mail is now delivered from the new site and not from Rosewood Station. That means mail placed on hold and items such as certified letters, Express mail, parcels and registered mail must be picked up at the Northpointe site. Or, postal customers can call for re-delivery.

Though it does not have counter service, Northpointe has a stamp vending machine and collection boxes for outgoing mail.

By 1999, Rosewood Station is scheduled to become Spokane’s first postal retail store, selling stamps, T-shirts, caps and other postal paraphernalia. It will still have counter service for mailing packages, as it does now.

Though the Northpointe site is more inconveniently located than Rosewood Station for some, DeCaro said he hopes the new facility will provide better service for North Side postal customers.

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