DATE: Saturday, June 21, 1997               TAG: 9706210290

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   45 lines

GREAT BRIDGE WILL HAVE NEW POST OFFICE AT HANBURY ROAD

The city is scheduled to get a spacious new post office with a supermarket method of doing business.

Postal Service officials on Friday confirmed plans to build an 18,000-square-foot post office at the intersection of Hanbury Road and Battlefield Boulevard in the southern half of Great Bridge.

``The people in the area will see a huge change in the look of the lobby,'' said Martin Petrey, an architect with the Postal Service's regional office in Greensboro, N.C. ``It's a much more friendly retail concept.''

The post office will have a true store feel, following a new trend where most products are openly displayed and available to the public without a long wait at the counter.

The Jolliff Postal Store in Western Branch currently operates on the same concept.

``You pull off what you want and just check out at the cash register,'' said Petrey. ``It just speeds up the whole process of buying what you want.''

The new facility will occupy 7.3 acres and is located two miles south of the Great Bridge Shopping Center where the current post office is located.

Construction proposals for the new facility are due July 9 and a contract is scheduled to be awarded July 25, according to bid documents.

Work is scheduled to begin by Sept. 1 and is to be completed around May 1998, according to postal officials.

The new building was news to city planner Brent Nielson, who said Friday he has heard nothing official about the project. Nielson said the area around the site is zoned for business and would likely not require a rezoning application.

All costs for improvements around the site will be paid by the federal government, including the building or extension of a turn lane. The Postal Service will also pay for storm water management at the site, Petrey said.

``We cooperate wholeheartedly with local officials,'' Petrey said.

It was unclear Friday whether the old Great Bridge post office, built in 1962, would remain or be closed. Chesapeake's postmaster was unavailable for comment. Officials from the real estate firm which rents the building to the postal service were also unavailable.

The city's main post office is on North Battlefield Boulevard above Volvo Parkway. KEYWORDS: U.S. POST OFFICE CHESAPEAKE

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