Houlton Post Office undergoes facelift

HOULTON, Maine — Postal customers in Houlton have noticed a few changes at the local post office in recent weeks as construction of a new handicapped accessible ramp and front steps in ongoing.
A temporary entrance was created in the parking lot area of the historic Houlton building while the old steps were removed.
    “The steps and ramp were about 25 years old and needed to be replaced,” said Tom Rizzo, spokesman for the United States Post Office Northern New England region. “The cold winters with lots of contracting and expanding, caused the ramp and stairs to deteriorate.”
Rizzo said the Post Office took bids from local contractors for the repair work, with WBRC Architects designing the ramp and steps and Buildings Etcetera awarded the construction job.
“The new ramp and stairs will be heated, to reduce the amount of salt needed to be spread on them in the winter months, Rizzo said. “Hopefully, this will help keep them in tip-top condition for some time.”
To create a temporary entrance to the building, numerous post office boxes were removed from the south side of the building to a different area of the post office. Those mailboxes are expected to be returned once the temporary door has been closed off.
“As is typical when this type of work has to be done, a new entrance needs to be created while the work is being done,” Rizzo said. “We’re limited financially as to what we can do.”
Rizzo said the project is expected to be finished in mid-August.