Postal Service studying future of landmark Port Townsend Customs House — but it’s not for sale now

PORT TOWNSEND — The Postal Service is still investigating what to do with the historic building housing the post office — and has made no decisions yet.

“We are still going through the process and still making decisions about what to do with the building,” Katherine Young, a representative of the Postal Service from the Seattle District told about 120 people at a meeting Thursday night.

The Postal Service hasn’t sold the 115-year-old Port Townsend Customs House building and would find it difficult to adapt the structure to be accessible to the handicapped, officials said at the meeting called by the Governor’s Committee on Disability Issues.

Young said the next step is to finish the process of surveying the building and to report the results of the meeting to her superiors.

“I think the best thing now would be to take a deep breath and let things run their course,” Young said.

“This is going to take time.”

The spirited two-hour community discussion was prompted both by concerns about accessibility for the disabled into the building, which has steep stairs leading to its front door, and discussions about a selling the building.

“We haven’t sold the building, and we haven’t moved it out by the airport,” said Young, remarking on a proliferation of rumors about the former Customs House that houses the post office.

“We haven’t hired a Realtor. No decisions have been made yet.”

Port Townsend Deputy Mayor George Randels told Young, “All I want to say is, come to us, talk to us, before you hire a Realtor.”

Last October, Port Townsend resident Bonnie Bolster collected 940 signatures and filed a complaint under the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, saying the building is not accessible to those who find it hard to climb stairs.

She opened the meeting by talking about her concerns with the building.

“When a group is excluded it is harmed and the community suffers,” she said.

More in News

Etta Street construction to take up to eight weeks in downtown Sequim

A piping and pavement project along the Etta Street alleyway… Continue reading

Michaela Christiansen, 14, left, and Pen DeBord, 14, both of Port Angeles, use a cider press to crush fresh apples into juice and pulp during Saturday’s Applestock celebration in Sequim. The event, a benefit for several area charities, featured food, music, crafts and games in the orchard at Williams Manor B&B/Vacation Rental. Applestock 2023 beneficiaries were the Salvation Army Food Bank, Angel Tree Christmas, Coats for Kids and area food banks. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Pressing apples

Michaela Christiansen, 14, left, and Pen DeBord, 14, both of Port Angeles,… Continue reading

Emily Matthiessen / Olympic Peninsula News Group
The Sequim Logging Show, seen in May 2023, will operate next year as its own nonprofit organization to seek insurance coverage separate from the Sequim Irrigation Festival. Organizers of both the festival and show say it was a pragmatic decision and is similar to what the festival did in late 2017 after leaving the umbrella of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Logging Show to be separate from festival

New nonprofit formed, but event will continue

Sequim downtown lot to be prepped for redesign with three potential concepts

City purchased Centennial Place property in 2013 for 100th anniversary

Head-on collision injures five people

A head-on collision on U.S. Highway 101 Saturday sent… Continue reading

One hurt when driver falls asleep, hits tree

A driver fell asleep behind the wheel of a… Continue reading

Homecoming Royalty are, from left, Chimacum High School King Gary Zambor and Queen Julia Breitweg, and Port Townsend High School King Ken Llotse-Rowell and Queen Tadu Dollarhide as they were introduced to the spectators at Memorial Field in Port Townsend on Friday. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Homecoming court

Homecoming Royalty are, from left, Chimacum High School King Gary Zambor and… Continue reading

Port Angeles School District student scores inching up

Board hears results of state assessments, approves teacher contract

Most Read