At first blush, it looks like another bureaucratic SNAFU. The newly installed railing on the newly installed cement steps outside the Barber Conable Post Office Building in Downtown Batavia encloses more than half the structure.
The design has drawn derisive comments on social media, such as "Great example of wasting tax dollars."
There is an explanation, said Mark Lawrence, strategic communications specialist for the USPS in WNY.
"The Batavia Post Office had a water infiltration issue that could only be accessed by removing a large portion of the front steps and the handicap-accessible ramp," Lawrence told The Batavian in an email. "The repairs were completed and the front steps were returned to their original state. The handrails are in the original location, as they previously were, in order to reduce slips, trips, and falls."
Previously: Batavia's post office building is 100 years old
Top photo by Howard Owens
File photo from 2019. Photo by Howard Owens.
An undated postcard of the Batavia Post Office sometime after the cement steps were installed.
The post office shortly after its construction in 1919.
The post office was built in
The post office was built in 2019??? I was always under the impression it was so much older. I wonder why I don't remember that....