The future of the historic post office in Battleford has residents concerned. It was closed prior to the Thanksgiving weekend out of concern for the safety of employees and customers due to bats inside the building.
Last week, a temporary office was set up at the former Hillcrest Centre at 122-24th Street.
The Town of Battleford has agreed to rent the former Hillcrest Centre to Canada Post on a month-to-month basis at a rate of $1,200, which includes power, gas, water and sewer.
Meanwhile, Canada Post has taken out a building permit for $30,000 worth of work at the former House of Kwon building at 592 - 35th St.
At Monday's meeting of town council, the mayor said all the councillors and town administration have been receiving numerous questions about what's happening with the post office.
"Obviously, it's been in the news that the old post office has been closed down temporarily," said Derek Mahon. He added, "We don't speak for Canada Post by any stretch of the imagination, so I want to make that clear."
He was able to say, however, that Canada Post has contacted the town in regard to using Hillcrest Centre and that a temporary office relocation building permit had been approved that evening for the former House of Kwon's address, where some trailers can already be seen.
"So anybody that's wondering what's going on at the former House of Kwon, a temporary post office has been requested. As a development permit, it's been approved," said the mayor. "Other than that we don't know anything about when Canada Post will be moving or renovating or what they are doing to their existing building."
However, he did have another piece of information to offer.
"I can say that Canada Post representatives from Ottawa were in the town of Battleford back in June to discuss potential renovations to the post office. Other than that, that's all I know."
He said any questions from the Town to Canada Post have been referred to the customer service phone number.
"I phoned it one day for interest," said Mahon, "and it was busy. I don't have any other answers."
Mouktar Abdillahi, spokesperson for Canada Post, told the Regional OptimistTuesday, "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but we’ve had to urgently put in place temporary arrangements because of health and safety concerns with the presence of bats in the Battleford Post Office building."
He went on to say, "Our focus at this time is ensuring we can serve the people of Battleford."
That there have been bats in the post office building has been known for some time. In recent years, their presence put a kibosh on repairing the clock in the tower.
Back in 2006, the Battleford Communities in Bloom committee was hoping to get the old post office clock working again. By 2013, then mayor Chris Odishaw told fellow council members it appears the "powers that be" were not interested in repairing the clock, citing cost, safety and liability issues.
A spokesperson for Canada Post at the time said his understanding of the situation with the clock is that a mold and bat problem in the tower was the main safety issue, not structural safety, and that spending money to fix the clock would not move the mail any faster.
The Battleford Post Office was built in 1911/12 at a cost of $40,000 and opened in 1914. It is the oldest continuously operated post office in Saskatchewan.
