Location. Location. Location. As it turns out, the U.S. Postal Service planned well when it built the Midway Processing and Distribution Center in 1979 on Midway Drive. The facility is on a generous-size lot in a good neighborhood — 26 acres in Loma Portal; its nearby neighbor is practically royalty — the Marine Corps Recruit Depot is on the list of national historic landmarks; and it’s just minutes from two major freeways and San Diego International Airport. The Midway Post Office was put up for sale in 2010 then taken off the market when no viable buyers came forward. Now, the facility and its land may be up for grabs again as part of the postal service’s plan to get back in the black. On Dec. 5, the USPS announced it must reduce its operating costs by $20 billion by 2015 to return to profitability. To achieve that goal, the postal service may reduce mail standards, meaning it would take longer for mail to be delivered, and close 252 of its 487 processing centers nationwide — among them the Midway Post Office. “The Midway processing facility is very underutilized. There are few operations there,” said Eva Jackson, USPS spokeswoman. “There’s also a misconception that the facility is a distribution center.” It’s not, Jackson said. Today, all mail dropped off at the Midway Post Office is sent 20 miles north to the Margaret L. Sellers Processing Center on Rancho Carmel Drive, which was opened in 1993 to replace the Midway facility. Mail destined for the 15 ZIP codes served by the Midway Post Office is then returned pre-sorted for carriers to pick up and deliver. Some mail arriving to San Diego is processed at Midway. According to Jackson, priority and express mail and some machine-sorted mail is handled at Midway. There are 347 employees at the facility. The Midway Post Office is mostly a retail operation, with post office boxes available for rent, passport services, package mailing and stamp sales. “If we sell the property, we’ll probably negotiate to maintain the retail,” Jackson said. “If not, we’ll move it to a storefront in the area. The community is not going to lose postal service.” What will undoubtedly change if the site is sold is the use of the property. At this point, what that will be is anybody’s guess. In 2010, USPS teamed up with CB Ellis to sell the site. At that time, a USPS consultant estimated the potential property value of the Midway Post Office site to be $62.5 million if it was used for private industrial use. The value was presented at the Sept. 8, 2010 meeting of the North Bay Community Planning Group. A local nonprofit group called Amikas came forward with a bid to use the land as a homeless center. The concept was quickly jettisoned. There was also a rumor the site was being considered for a Costco store. The sale quickly fizzled and the property was taken off the market. If the Peninsula Woman’s Club has its way, the site would serve the senior citizen population. Club members have petitioned local planning boards and City Hall with their concept. But like everyone else, they are long on ideas and short on cash. “We need an angel or a partner to come forward to help us out,” said Ruth Sewell of the Peninsula Woman’s Club. “We would like to have a recreation area and senior housing with assisted and independent living. The land is convenient to everything and everybody, and it could be developed very nicely.” After all, it is in the perfect location. HOW MUCH THEY HANDLE

Mail processed in San Diego in the post office’s 2011 fiscal year:

Originating from San Diego:

Letras: 2,409,050,641 Flats: 215,219,480 Packages: 77,922,817 Arriving to San Diego:

Letras: 4,891,102,817 Flats: 399,693,321 Packages: 95,238,999

MIDWAY POST OFFICE EXTENDED HOLIDAY HOURS

2535 Midway Drive San Diego CA 92110 • Thursday, Dec. 15: 7 a.m. to 11p.m. • Saturday, Dec. 17: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. • Sunday, Dec. 18: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. • Monday, Dec. 19: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

A LOOK AT SAN DIEGO’S POSTAL HISTORY

San Diego’s main post office and mail processing facility wasn’t always located on Midway Drive and has had many homes throughout the city’s history. • 1850: The first post office is established in San Diego on the northeast corner of the Old Town Plaza at Mason and Calhoun streets. San Diego has a population of 650 at this time. • April 9, 1850: Richard Rust is appointed the first postmaster of San Diego. All citizens pick up their mail at the post office. • April 6, 1869: Dr. Jacob Allen becomes postmaster of the “New Town” Post Office, located in a drug store on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and F Street. • Dec. 23, 1869: Freeman Gates became postmaster of San Diego and opens the post office in the Dunham Building on F Street between F and G streets. San Diego has a population of 2,300 at this time. • 1876: Space in the San Diego Union Building at Sixth Avenue and F Street is used as the main post office. • 1885: The first transcontinental train arrives in San Diego, bringing mail from the East Coast. San Diego’s population is now 35,000. Oct. 3, 1887: The letter carrier system of free delivery is inaugurated in San Diego. Four of the first carriers were Joseph E. Coulthrust, Charles E. Lamb, B.E. Hinman, and Jerome V. Scofield. • Oct. 18, 1887: San Diego letter carriers receive uniforms. • 1888: The Brewster Hotel, located on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and C Street, rents space to the post office. • 1890: San Diego post office moves to a new five-story St. James Hotel on the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and F Street. • 1913: The first facility built for the sole purpose of being a post office in San Diego is finished and located at 325 West F St. • 1938: The main post office moves to Sixth Avenue and E Street in downtown San Diego. • Aug. 19, 1972: Midway Processing and Distribution Center opens at 2535 Midway Drive as San Diego’s main post office. • 1993: Carmel Mountain Ranch processing facility opens at 1251 Rancho Carmel Drive. • 2006: USPS experiences a significant drop in mail volume. The change is attributed to a faltering economy and increased use of technology for bill paying and communication. • 2010: USPS lists the Midway Post Office for sale and then takes it off the market when no viable buyer comes forward. • Dec. 5, 2011: USPS announces it needs to consolidate operations by 2015 to save $20 billion. Midway Post Office is among 252 facilities nationwide eyed for closure. • 2011: San Diego’s population is 1.3 million. — Fuente: Servicio Postal de EE. UU.