Mount Savage residents will find ample parking, 24-hour lobby

MICHAEL A. SAWYERS

Cumberland Times-News Staff Writer

MOUNT SAVAGE — Beginning Monday, Mount Savage postal customers won't have to step out onto the highway after they buy a stamp at their local post office.

Beginning Monday at 7:30 a.m., postal customers in this rural Miller Allegany

County town will have plenty of parking spots when they go to mail a package to a friend or relative.

Beginning Monday, the long sought new post office for Mount Savage will be a reality and will include a lobby that will be open 24 hours per day.

"This is a great thing for the community," said Postmaster Ron Miller. "This area has lost so much so to get this new post office is something really positive."

The building sits at the corner of state Route 36 and New School Road. It replaces an old facility with a front that is flush against the main street in town, creating a danger to people who exit the building.

Miller and his staff and the people of Mount Savage will have a post office with 420 postal boxes, 248 of which have been rented.

"We had just 260 boxes at the old post office. Now we not only have more, but we have two additional larger sizes to choose from," Miller said.

After the old post office closes its doors Saturday at noon, moving will take place during the remainder of the weekend. Window service at the new facility will be Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4:30 in the afternoon. Saturday hours are 8 a.m. to noon.

"We've worked with local law enforcement agencies so that we believe it is secure enough to allow for the 24hour lobby service," Miller said. Though patrons will have access to their boxes at anytime, Miller said there will be no vending machines for stamps or other postal service goods.

John A Bone/Times-News

Scoutmaster Jim Dickel of Troop 50 from Mount Savage raises the U.S. flag at the new Mount Savage Post Office Thursday afternoon as troop members watch and Eric Williams plays "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the trumpet. The facility will open to the public on Monday morning.

Thursday, Cub Scout Troop 50 from the Mount Savage Methodist Church raised the flag for the first time at the new post office. The national anthem was played on trumpet by Cub Scout Eric Williams.

Cub Scout troop leader Jim Dickel is also the president of the Mount Savage Historical Society, a group that was vital in requesting a new post office.

The historical society also purchased a Victorian era replica standing clock that sits at the corner of the parking lot.

Miller said a new sidewalk will be built along Route 36 by the Maryland Highway Administration on land donated by Bill Miller so that pedestrians coming from town will not have to walk in the highway

The building is a modular unit from Southern Structures in Ocala, Fla. The main contractor on the job was Sierra Construction of Morovia.

The other employees at the post office are Postal Clerk Sharon Tippen, Rural Carrier Joseph Taylor, Rural Carrier Relief Carol Dickel and Custodian Emmy Kirby.