City Fights Potential Post Office Closure
Requests Your Support
In the wake of a recent announcement of the potential closure of the Wayne Post Office Branch of the US Postal Service, the City of Wayne has officially launched a campaign to keep the office open in the City.
City Council is asking Wayne residents and the thousands of people from surrounding communities who come to work every day within the City of Wayne, to sign a petition asking the US Postal Service to keep open the Wayne U.S. Post Office branch facility, located at 3716 Newberry Street in Downtown Wayne.
“There is no doubt that a full-service Post Office within the City is critically important not only to the people of Wayne but to thousands of workers who come to Wayne each day to work at the Ford Michigan Ave. complex and many other businesses within the City,” Mayor Haidous said last night at the City Council meeting.
“The Wayne Post Office Branch is also integral to the City’s downtown development plan,” he continued, “and we are asking anyone who has used the Wayne Post Office to sign a petition in support of keeping the Post Office open. Please download and sign our petition and return it to City Hall. More than 1,000 concerned citizens have already signed petitions to keep open the Wayne Post Office, serving Post Office customers as it has for more than 174 years.”
In a letter to Nancy Rettinhouse, Chief Executive Officer, United States Postal Service in Detroit requesting a face-to-face meeting, Mayor Haidous said, “While the City will submit more specific development information to Ms. Zarek (Post Office Review Coordinator) per her request, you should know that future planning for Downtown Wayne, as recently as 2006, cited the Post Office block and its strategic flanking blocks on Newberry Street as the ‘New Main Street’ for Downtown Wayne.”
Mayor Haidous has also requested help from President Obama, Senators Levin and Stabenow, as well as Congressman McCotter. "We will take our case to Washington D.C. if we must," he said.
Wayne City Council established a subcommittee consisting of Mayor Haidous, Mayor Pro Tem Donna McEachern and Councilwoman Pam Dobrowoiski to deal with the possible discontinuance of the Wayne Post Office.
The City of Wayne Planning Commission echoed City Council’s concerns at the possible Post Office closing. In a resolution passed Monday, August 17, 2009, the Commission said, “…the Planning Commission, consistent with its current work to develop a new Downtown Master Plan, declares its unqualified support to the uninterrupted continuation of active operations at the Unites States Post Office located at 3716 Newberry Street, Wayne Michigan and that the Commission will work toward the development of land use polices to encourage the expansion and introduction of similar uses.”
The deadline to turn in the "Save the Post Office" petitions at City Hall is
September 4, 2009, 4:30pm.
The Downtown Wayne branch of the U.S. Postal Service has served Wayne and surrounding communities for 174 years. The Newberry Street Post Office building, which is owned by the Postal Service, was dedicated in 1938.
As a historical note: our City's name, Wayne, was adopted in honor of Revolutionary War hero, General Anthony Wayne, whose military expertise secured the area for the United States. The people of the City of Wayne have a history of fighting for their beliefs.