THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 24, 1995 TAG: 9511220218
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Three local Postal Service facilities have been renovated, revamped and made ready for the busiest time of the year, the holiday mailing season.
The new Sea Pines office opened for business Nov. 20. The new site, a former bank at 33rd Street and Arctic Avenue, is a block from the previous facility and will offer a drive-up window for stamp purchases and improved, off-the-street parking.
The old retail facility had eight parking spaces, and to use those, customers had to back out onto busy 32nd Street. Not so anymore, said Lee Modlin, manager of the station. Customers can now pull into one of 16 off-street parking spaces.
Within 30 days another innovation, the drive-up window for stamp purchases, will come on line.
Modlin said the early morning opening was hectic, but by the end of the work day, operations were ``going smoothly - perfect really.''
Customers and employees both like the new set up with its easy accessibility and clean new look.
The old facility on 32nd Street will remain in use for the 53 letter carriers servicing 40 routes. The new station, remodeled at a cost of just under $100,000, will handle customer transactions and provide post office boxes.
The clerks like their new work space, too, Modlin said. ``This station is a little smaller in the lobby, but there is no wasted space.''
Frequent post office customer Lou Grey Weeks appreciated what she saw on her first visit.
``I love what they've done with it,'' she said. ``The vaulted ceilings and the design. I didn't think they would do something this nice.''
At Hilltop, Ellen Bryant stopped and looked around the newly remodeled station with pleasant surprise. ``Wow, this is really great,'' said Bryant. ``It's uptown. It's more inviting. They have modernized it.''
The old facility, a former store, was gutted completely and redone while operations continued, said clerk-in-charge Don Cidlevicz.
Hilltop, part of the London Bridge station, added a service window and increased the staff from three to five clerks. The lobby features an expanded post office box section.
The $70,000 remodeling job at Hilltop station made its debut Nov. 15 and has received immediate plaudits for being more spacious, bright and open.
Fran Sansone, customer relations coordinator for the Virginia Beach Post Office, has an office in the city's busiest station, the Viking Drive operation.
The remodeling, costing about $125,000, taking place there includes a drive-up, stamps-only window. It is tentatively scheduled for opening next week, said Sansone.
``We will also have an expanded post office box section that customers will be able to access in the lobby or from outside.
``We'll have a booth down at the (Lynnhaven) mall from Thanksgiving until Christmas, too,'' she said.
All the changes are intended to make the post office more user-friendly. ILLUSTRATION: The new Sea Pines facility, at 33rd Street and Arctic Avenue,
offers more parking and will have a drive-through stamp window.
Staff photo by
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
by CNB