After some ups and downs, Canada Post has moved back into Battleford’s post office building.
Residents stopped in to check out the building, eat some doughnuts and get their mail Monday.
Cassandra Germsheid of Fieldstone Holdings Corp. said she’s excited the building operates as a post office again.
“It’s been a long time coming since before the whole project started,” Germsheid said. “We were really looking forward to getting Canada Post up and running again, and to see everything finished and to have people be able to walk right in and get their mail again is definitely the best part.”
Germsheid added she was relieved the first floor is finished as it would give her husband, Jesse Crozier, a rest. Crozier and his crew were working long hours on the historical building.
Canada Post left the building in fall 2015 citing safety concerns pertaining to bats.
A temporary location for the post office was the former Hillcrest Centre at 122 - 24th St. Mail was then available at trailers at the north end of town near All Out Graphics and Design Ltd., which elicited many complaints. The space didn’t accommodate many vehicles, there was congestion and a lack of organized parking, mud was on the ground certain times of the year, mail to multiple people was found in the same boxes and a door on at least one of the trailers hadn’t worked since winter.
In early 2016, Canada Post announced it would sell the building. Fieldstone Holdings Corp. bought the building in December 2016 and completed most of its work by fall.
Different possible completion dates were discussed in 2017, including Nov. 1 and before Christmas, but such plans never materialized.
In December, Phil Legault of Canada Post media relations told the Regional Optimistit was working to “make the space operational again as a post office” and was refitting the building with new equipment, retail counters, post office boxes, along with other tasks. Legault said the process “always takes a couple months.”
In April, Germsheid said Canada Post likely took time to design to pay respect to the character of the building, and restoring the building involved more than plaster and paint. A June 4 opening date was announced that month.
Germsheid said people tried to visit the building on the weekend before the opening date.
The interior features a new floor, new walls and new paint. The layout is somewhat different, Germsheid said.
Canada Post Local Area Superintendent Les Trach said he’s happy to be back.
“There’s a lot of nostalgia in this place so it’s good to be back,” Trach said.
Trach said the staff “has been great,” adding “the contractor did a fantastic job.”
Crozier and Germsheid aren’t finished with the building, and the upper floors is the next big project, Germsheid said, adding a main goal is to create new access to the area and restore everything up there.
What could be in the upper floors Germsheid said she and Crozier haven’t yet decided, but are talking about options.
