Housatonic Railroad Ready To Raise The Rafters At Hawleyville Post Office

By Nancy K. Crevier

Rob Finley, vice president of the Housatonic Railroad, headquartered in Canaan, disclosed Wednesday, July 19, that the company is currently negotiating with the United States Postal Service to renovate the building owned by the company at 30 Hawleyville Road in which the Hawleyville Post Office now leases space.

“The US Post Office looked around [the present location] and decided they like where they are,” said Mr Finley. “They don’t want to move to temporary quarters.”

Relocating the Hawleyville Post Office to temporary buildings erected nearby had been one option that the USPS had considered earlier this year when it became apparent that ignoring the dilapidated condition of the post office was no longer an option.

“The general idea, right now,” said Mr Finley, “is taking the back third of the present building and putting a new building on that same footprint. The post office would move to the back of the building into the new area.” The front section of the building, now partially occupied by the post office, would then be rebuilt, as well. “Possibly we would look to put some kind of retailer in that area,” Mr Finley said, although steps toward finding a retailer are still in the “very preliminary stages.”

The Mead Group out of New Haven, an architectural company that specializes in designing post offices, has drawn up the initial plans. “The plans have been shown to Newtown’s design board and they have not indicated that there are any issues,” said Mr Finley. The plans were sent to the Newtown Design Review Board on June 28. “They would like to see a few modifications and we are now waiting for the specs from the architect,” he said.

The feasibility report prepared by the architectural group shows a new configuration for the building, while remaining within the original footprint. The post office, which now faces the street side, would be relocated to the rear of the building with the front then faced north, toward the Hawleyville Fire Station. Ample parking in back would be provided for post office customers.

 “We thought the building looked pretty good,” said George Reichert, a member of the Newtown Design Review Board. “We suggested larger windows and a larger gable on the roofline on the Route 25 side, to make it look like the front of a building, even though it really is not. Because this building is part of a design district, we want to minimize the curb cuts on Route 25. We would like to see them share a common driveway with the fire department, the lumber yard, and Hawleyville Deli.”

The panel also recommended that the Housatonic Railroad contact the owners of the Hawleyville Deli to consider shared parking behind the building. “It would be nice to get one main access [from Route 25] to the lumber yard, fire department, the post office, and the deli,” said Mr Reichert. “What we’re doing is creating a small village. [Connecting the parking areas] helps develop pedestrian traffic between the buildings.”

The recommendations made by the Newtown design review panel were recently passed on to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The plans have not yet been reviewed, according to Planning and Zoning Commission member William O’Neill.

The biggest hurdle the Housatonic Railroad must now leap is to negotiate a new lease rate with the USPS. Mr Finley does not anticipate insurmountable problems in that area. “The postal service is pushing us. They would like construction to begin in the next few months, hopefully before the end of the year,” Mr Finley said.

“That’s very exciting,” said Hawleyville postmaster Mark Favale of the news. “In the past five or six weeks there have been several engineers and architects looking at the building,” he said. A copy of the feasibility report was provided to the postmaster the week of July 24.

A builder for the project has not yet been selected, but several companies are currently being considered, according to Mr Finley.

If all stays on schedule, the Hawleyville Post Office could be putting its best foot forward by next spring and the eyesore that lines the road could be only a memory.