Post office building under way

Watch out for construction trucks in the Roop Street-Little Lane area.

Construction on Carson City's new $7.5 million post office has begun, and contractors are busy working to meet a Nov. 1 deadline.

Jaynes Corp. of Las Vegas is in charge of construction on the $5 million, 37,000-square-foot building.

Subcontractor Canyon Creek Construction is moving dirt from one side of Roop Street to the six-acre post office site to raise the building's elevation, construction superintendent Kurt Gehlken said.

Construction shouldn't pose any problems to the neighborhood, Gehlken said. "We're trying to be a good neighbor," he said.

A stop light is planned for installation at the Little Lane-Roop Street intersection sometime in late summer, Deputy City Manager Dan St. John said.

By December, Carson residents could be mailing their Christmas packages from the new site on the corner of Little Lane and Roop Street.

The office will replace the main office on Washington Street since 1970. The new building was designed after the Paul Laxalt State Building.

Built in 1888, the Laxalt Building was the location of the post office before it moved to Washington Street.

The new post office will offer increased services to the area, including the increase of parking from 18 spaces to 78 spaces. The Washington office has 3,250 post office boxes and the new building will have 5,318 boxes. Like the new Ormsby Station serving the 89706 zip code and the post office branch at the SuperKmart on North Carson Street, the new station will offer a postal store to cater to stamp collectors and those interested in post office merchandise.