Out With the Old, In With the New

On Friday, October 11, students celebrated the grand opening of the brand-new mail center. At an open house, the curious had the opportunity to inspect the innovative facility.

Most students were “amazed at the size,” said Suzanne Hancock, manager of the student post office. The biggest upshot for Hancock and the other staff is the dramatic increase in workspace. The same number of staff now works in an area five times that of the old post office.

Though the prospect of putting in a new mail center had been discussed for a while, the plans were drafted and the facility was built over the course of last summer. In placing the mail center next to Smith Hall, the school sought to make it a “convenient center of the community without taking out any of the [landscaping],” said Roger Hodson of Auxiliary Services.

Each of the more than 4,300 mail boxes are now opened by a key. Before the new facility, students received mail and shared the combination to their box with another student. According to Hodson, there is plenty of room for growth, with 1,200 boxes available for future use.

Posted: October 14, 2002