Norwich - The U.S. Postal Service is moving forward with a long-rumored plan to close its historic Main Street facility and relocate its window service and post office boxes to the distribution center on Route 82 near the Bozrah border, a move city officials hope to fight.

City Manager Alan Bergren received a letter Friday from Postal Service Real Estate Specialist James Hickey outlining plans to sell the building at 340 Main St. and move the remaining operations to the so-called USPS Annex facility at 292 Salem Turnpike once a buyer is found.

"The needs of the Postal Service today call for us to look at all possible avenues that will reduce costs, consolidate operations and increase efficiency," Hickey wrote.

The annex was built in 1999 as a mail sorting and distribution center for all towns in the 063 ZIP code area. But with declining mail volumes, those machines again were moved to Hartford in a further consolidation of mail services, Postal Service officials said Monday.

City officials said they understand the need for the financially struggling Postal Service to consolidate and save money, but they strongly object to any plan to move retail window service out of downtown, where numerous state offices, law offices, businesses and residents are located. Bergren said he already is "reaching out" to Postal Service officials to try to get them to change the plan to include a smaller, leased space in downtown.

"The presence of the Post Office in the downtown area is very important," Bergren said, "whether they stay in that building or not. (The annex) is just about out of the city. That doesn't work for us."

Maureen Marion, public affairs specialist for the postal service in New England, said the money-saving argument is powerful in the Norwich plan. By selling the huge, 23,000-square-foot building and three-quarter-acre property, the Postal Service would bring in much-needed revenue. And while the agency often looks to lease smaller retail window-service space, in Norwich, the Postal Service already owns its annex building and would not need to pay rent. The annex needs renovations of about 1,900 square feet of space to bring in window service and Post Office boxes and some added parking.

Norwich Postmaster Eileen Kelty, whose office already is located in the annex, said she understands that many Norwich residents either walk or take Southeast Area Transit buses to the Post Office, and many businesses and residents have boxes as their only mail service. But box service also has declined significantly in recent years, with more than 100 of the 723 available boxes in the Norwich Post Office now vacant.

"I understand the dilemma," Kelty said.

Norwich city Historian Dale Plummer is one of those downtown residents who walk to the Post Office. Plummer said the Norwich Post Office is a very significant building, designed by noted architect Louis Simon, who designed numerous post office buildings throughout the country. He called it "an excellent design, an attractive building." Beyond the need to preserve the building, Plummer argued that downtown postal service also must be maintained.

"No matter what, they were going to move out of that building," Plummer said. "However, the Post Office has been located in the downtown for a couple hundred years, and to move it out of the downtown is stupid. ... That is a grave disservice to the citizens of Norwich."

Marion said Hickey's letter to Bergren was one of the early steps in the process of closing the Main Street facility. Norwich Postal Service employees already have been notified. Soon, a notice will be posted on the wall at the Post Office describing the plan and seeking public comment.

City officials also may request a public information meeting inviting Postal Service officials to speak about the plan and allowing the public to give input. Marion said typically, a municipal agency such as the planning commission, hosts the meeting rather than the Postal Service.

The building has not yet been put on the market.

Mayor Peter Nystrom expressed his disappointment in the plan but was not surprised, given the longstanding rumors that the Postal Service wanted to vacate the large, expensive building. Nystrom said the move would add to the city's concerns about the eastern end of Main Street, where the former YMCA, the Post Office and the former Elks Club building are located. The Elks building had been converted into a restaurant, which is closed at least temporarily.

"We certainly need to bolster that corner of downtown," Nystrom said. "You're looking at three major pieces of property that are virtually vacant."

c.bessette@theday.com