MCB HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- Nov. 26, a new post office is opening aboard MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay.
The old base post office has been around since 1941 and was in dire need of a retirement. Its size had been a major problem, considering the building was too small to hold the amount of mail coming through from overseas families.
For years, the base kept sending requests to receive funding to build a new post office, and the Department of Defense finally approved the request.
"I have been working here since 1989, and they've been trying to get a new post office before I even got here," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brian N. Mitchell, the base postal officer. "This new post office is in a great location, and the improved technology is really going to help things as well."
The design of the building originated from Honolulu's Richard Matsunuga and Associates Architects, Inc., and Oahu's Dick Pacific Construction, which built the establishment. All together the building is estimated to have cost $1.9 million to construct.
Some of the features provided by the new post office include more sales windows, new computer systems, new state of the art security systems and an overall much larger facility. The office even has a "suspect mailroom" that will allow suspicious packages to be held in safekeeping.
The old post office is still open for business, five days a week, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Starting Dec. 1, the new post office will be open Monday though Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8a.m. to 12 p.m.
"We are trying to possibly lengthen our days, either another hour, or more," said Mitchell. "We are still currently trying to work that out with the United States Postal System. Hopefully, that will take place sometime in the near future."
The grand opening of the post office is Nov. 26 at 9:30 a.m., adjacent to the McDonalds on Mokapu Road. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by refreshments and open tours of the new facility.
"I think with the post office in the area that it now is, our business is going to increase dramatically," said Mitchell. "A lot of people didn't know where we were, at first, and now everyone will be able to see it."