Fields Corner post office will stay open after USPS gets a lease extension

The Fields Corner Post Office at 218 Adams St. in Dorchester will not close on Monday after all. The U.S. Postal Service said Friday, Oct. 23, that it had secured a lease extension for the branch, WBUR and the Dorchester Reporter reported. The Postal Service's notice told customers no action is needed for now.

We reported Friday that the branch was set to close Oct. 26, with post office box customers sent to the Fields Corner Carrier Annex on Clayton Street and counter customers sent to the Codman Square Post Office. That plan is now on hold. For people who pick up prescriptions, mail packages or buy stamps in Fields Corner, the counter stays where it is.

What changed

According to both outlets, the Postal Service had announced Sept. 30 that the branch would close temporarily because its lease ran out Oct. 31, and said it was looking for "alternate quarters." The Oct. 23 notice reversed that.

City Councilor John FitzGerald, who represents the area, confirmed the news. He credited U.S. Sen. Ed Markey's office and the developer and attorney for the O'Hearn Building, where the branch rents space, for connecting the two sides, the Reporter said. He told WBUR the result shows what happens when communities organize around services they rely on.

The extension is not a permanent fix. FitzGerald said a long-term lease still has to be finalized, both outlets reported. The building was sold last year and has been eyed for redevelopment, which is why neighbors worried about the branch's future in the first place.

What our records show

The council acted two days before the reversal. On Oct. 21 it adopted FitzGerald's resolution urging the Postal Service to find a new home for the branch in the neighborhood (docket 1970). Council President Liz Breadon (District 9) and City Councilor Brian Worrell (District 4) were added as co-sponsors, and the council's record lists all 13 members as sponsors.

On the floor, FitzGerald said he put "temporarily" in air quotes, pointing to Allston, where a branch closed as temporary and stayed shut for years (watch at 2:25:50). He said he had spoken with the building's owner, who told him a long-term government tenant was the kind of tenant an owner wants to keep, and that the owner had offered an extension that the Postal Service had not taken at that point (2:27:22). He also said the Postal Service had bolted P.O. box equipment into a public sidewalk on Clayton Street without city permits (2:26:51).

Breadon said the Allston branch closed in December 2019 as a temporary closure and is still closed seven years later (2:28:23). She noted that many residents are waiting on mail-in ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election (2:29:25). Worrell said his office had heard from residents that losing a permanent post office would hurt access (2:30:55).

The Allston fight is still open. Breadon's order for a hearing on bringing a post office back to Allston (docket 1338) remains in committee, and the council placed on file a letter from Boston elected officials opposing a permanent closure of that branch on Sept. 23 (docket 1791). WBUR noted that Mayor Michelle Wu and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley are among the officials challenging the Allston plan.

What's next

Watch for two things: whether the Postal Service and the building's owner sign a long-term lease, and what happens to the Clayton Street annex buildout FitzGerald described. The council has no further vote scheduled on Fields Corner. The Allston hearing order is still waiting for a date; check the meetings calendar.