BOSTON — Steve Doherty, Strategic Communications Specialist at the United States Postal Service in Boston, said Sept. 9 that operations at the Camden Post Office are being temporarily moved to the Rockland Post Office, “to facilitate an ongoing renovation project.”

He was responding to public reactions to the shuttered doors at the Camden Post Office. Read: Camden citizen and state representative raise concerns over Camden Post Office.

Doherty said there is no project deadline, but hopes are that the building will be ready for reuse by the end of 2022.

The public is directed to use post offices in neighboring towns from which to mail packages, etc.

Friday afternoon, Doherty responded to questions concerning logistics: “There is no change to street delivery, except that  if a notice is left for an item requiring a signature, they would need to go to the Rockland office for now to retrieve it. P.O. Box service and all retail services will be available in Rockland while the work is being completed on the Camden facility.”

He had said earlier in the day:

“Trying to complete the renovations while working around postal operations would not only cause the project to run well into 2023, but also creates unnecessary risks for employees in the facility,” he said, Sept. 9.  “It was determined that a better approach would be to temporarily vacate the facility and allow uninterrupted access to the renovation crew, with the hopes that we can be back in the facility before years end. No set timetable for completion has been established at this time because the nature of these projects make such predictions unreliable. But we are confident that this approach will speed our return to a fully renovated building.

“The Postal Service has been aggressively hiring, with currently 61 positions posted a usps.com/careers for the state of Maine. Due to the incredible flexibility of our workforce, we are typically able to move personnel from neighboring communities to fill short term vacancies although, like many businesses, pandemic related absences have strained our ability to maximize that flexibility. We continue to use all of the resources at our disposal, including the authorization of overtime, delivering earlier and later in the day and on weekend and using management personnel for deliveries if needed to insure that our Maine customers get the First Class service that they have come to expect and deserve.

“If and when a vacancy occurs in the Camden Postmaster position, that job would be posted and the process of selecting the best qualified candidate would begin. That position is not currently vacant.”