P.O. Close Would Be Inconvenient for Some, Unnoticed by Others

With the on a of post offices the United States Postal Service is looking into closing, there are mixed views as to what this would mean for the area.

On one hand, the students have a campus center office, run by Babson, which handles packages and other incoming and outgoing mail with postage.

But, on the other, Linda Ceremsak of Abbott Road said if the Bason Park Post Office closes it would serve as an inconvenience.

“I do use it frequently because it’s so close to where I live,” she said while walking her dog through campus.

Ceremsak, who has lived on Abbott Road for 17 years, can walk to the small Babson College branch office, but driving there is no trouble either.

“You don’t have an issue with parking here like you do at the or [post offices],” she said.

Many students on the campus, either full time or summer only, hardly knew the post office at the edge of the main entrance existed.

Eric Kessler, a rising senior, said due to the postal facility in the campus center, there is no need for the local post office on the edge of campus.

“They deliver all of our packages essentially to our mail room anyway,” he said. “Really [a closure] would only be an inconvenience to Wellesley citizens in the area.”

The Babson Park Post Office is open two hours a day during the summer months only for package pickup, and during the school year the office is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then again from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Dennis Tarmey, communications programs specialist for the Greater Boston Postal District, said the Babson office has simply made a list for review, which does not mean it will necessarily close. However, he said college students use digital communication far more frequently than the United States Postal Service, which has put the branch under a microscope.

“My son went to Tufts, and I don’t think he went to the post office once in his four years there,” he said. “College age kids are really not communicating with letters.”

Tarmey said the Postal Service has been through this once before with Babson. About three years ago, the branch almost closed, but due to some on-campus help to raise revenues, the office was kept open. But since then, the Postal Service’s volume has declined further.

“Unfortunately, we continue to lose money. The number of customers continue to drop off,” he said. “Our workload is not that significant anymore, so we’re looking at other options too."

There’s hope that a private business could come through to sell stamps and other postal products to the campus community, Tarmey said. Also, the Babson Park office wouldn’t close for at least six months as talks with Babson’s leaders ensue.

“Some people see a list and they say, ‘Oh, well that’s a done deal.’ That’s not true,” he said. “We’re not looking to close anything. We’re dealing with harsh realities here.”