FOXBORO — The town’s Wall Street Post Office building will be closed and put up for sale, and Foxboro’s carrier routes will be moved to the Mansfield Post Office under a plan announced to workers Tuesday.
But Foxboro will still have a post office.
A postal storefront will be opened in Foxboro to maintain customer service, including post office boxes, according to an announcement postal officials were assigned to read to their staffs.
“When these recommendations are set in action, it will provide us with an opportunity to provide real savings for postal operations in our area with no impact on customer service,” Greater Boston District Manager Charles Lynch wrote in his announcement.
“It is important that all postal employees understand — the facility optimization program contributes to the financial stability of the Postal Service and will help secure the future of our organization by saving us money,” he said.
No date has been set for the move. The postal building at 15 Wall St. will likely go up for sale in September, said Dennis Tarmey, a spokesman in the Boston office.
“It’s certainly not an overnight operation. Finding another location that is suitable is important,” Tarmey said.
But the move will not occur until the Postal Service finds a buyer for the Wall Street building and finds a suitable Foxboro location to “seamlessly” continue retail postal service in Foxboro.
“We don’t anticipate any layoffs under this proposal,” Tarmey said. “One of the reasons we’re involved in this is so that we can save money and avoid potential layoffs.”
The plan includes seeking more parking spaces for the Mansfield Post Office at 12 Giles Place, the announcement said.
Linda Wagner, officer in charge of the Foxboro Post Office, and Mansfield Postmaster Michael Lombardi referred all questions to Tarmey.
Tarmey said sale of the Foxboro building is part of a nationwide move by the Postal Service to save money through building use efficiencies.
“It’s not really closing,” he said. “We’re restructuring internally.”
He said customers in Foxboro will see no difference in retail service, except for the changed storefront location.
Foxboro’s carriers will, however, work out of the Mansfield location.
As an example of the time it can take to implement the plan, he said a similar plan for Natick and Framingham was announced almost two years ago, but the sale of the Natick building has yet to occur.
“We’re cognizant of today’s real estate market, but we’ll put the Foxboro postal facility on the market and see if any potential buyer steps forward.”
The Wall Street location opened as a new building in September 1998.
The Mansfield building is 12,062 square feet; the Foxboro building is larger at 18,691 square feet.
The Postal Service owns both facilities.
Mansfield currently has 16 postal routes. The 13 Foxboro routes and about 20 employees will be moved into the Mansfield building to sort, process and deliver Foxboro’s mail.
When employees are reassigned, the Postal Service follows collective bargaining agreements. The postal clerk and carriers have separate unions.