Tariffville Post Office Remains Closed by Structural Problems

The Tariffville Post Office was evacuated Feb. 4 because of structural damage in the building, according to the United States Postal Service. 

At the beginning of this week, Deputy First Selectman John Hampton said the temporary closing had begun to concern residents and local leaders who were concerned that it could be  “the beginning of the end” for the local post office. 

“There is a lot of history with the post office,” Hampton said. “Everyone comes together and meets and gets their mail. The last thing we want to do is lose the Tariffville Post Office. It’s really kind of key to its center.”

Earlier this week Gregg Nanni, general manager of Prospect Enterprises, the company that manages the building, said the problems with the post office had been repaired. 

“It’s all fixed so it should be opening up tomorrow,” Nanni said Tuesday. 

But on Wednesday, Maureen Marion, postal service public affairs specialist, said the post office would not open in the next day or so. 

“We still have our own issues with where we’re headed with the building,” she said. “We haven’t made a decision on what we are going to do.”

Marion said the USPS is looking into installing some temporary boxes in Simsbury, “so folks don’t have to stand in line in Simsbury at the post office while we go though our own processes to determine whether we will return to the building.”

Because of the temporary closing, Tariffville residents have to travel to Simsbury and wait in line to get their mail. 

Hampton said he had contacted U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy’s office regarding the matter. 

Nanni confirmed Tuesday that the company still wants to rent the building space to the post office. And, the structural problems that the post office suffered, Nanni said, were snow-related.

Hampton said the building that houses the post office building is old and that it is slowly deteriorating. He said earlier in the week that he met with the president of the Tariffville Village Association, Chet Matczak, regarding the issue. 

“Obviously a lot of villagers are contacting me and are concerned and I’m going to work with everybody to try to resolve it,” said Hampton. 

Matczak, too, said he has spoken with concerned residents. 

“Universally, the people I’ve spoken with are very concerned,” he said. “As a group, we’ve been working for close to 10 years now trying to rejuvenate the center of Tariffville. The post office is really part of the culture of the old mill village.”

Matczak said the association has been concerned for years about the condition of the building where the post office is housed.

“It's been obvious just from the exterior that its needed some serious work,” he Matczak. 

Hampton agreed.

“We’ve got to do something about the building and be ahead of the curve,” he said. “Post offices are closing and we want to make sure that we have a plan for the post office in the village.”