The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Tick, tick, tick…lease expires in early 2026
By Mark Reaman
A recent lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. by Crested Butte mayor Ian Billick has helped get Congressional representatives on the same page about the importance of a post office being located in Crested Butte. United States senators Michael Bennet, John Hickenlooper along with Congressman Jeff Hurd all co-signed a March 13 letter to U.S. postmaster Louis DeJoy expressing the critical need for a new post office facility in Crested Butte. Billick hopes the high-profile support will help move the needle.
The current Elk Avenue Post Office location is under a lease that expires next year. The Crested Butte council along with support from the Gunnison County Commissioners and Mt. Crested Butte town council has reached out to try and facilitate a guarantee that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) would continue to have a facility in the North Valley. Crested Butte has even offered up a partnership on town-owned property across from Gothic Field along Sixth Street but responses from USPS officials have gone dark and local government officials have not had any indication what will happen when the lease on the current building expires in 2026.
In the letter to DeJoy, the national representatives explicitly urge that USPS should “swiftly address the Town of Crested Butte’s need for a new post office facility. The existing facility serves approximately 4,000 households in the northern Gunnison Valley, including the Towns of Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte. The lease for this facility runs out in February 2026…Since January 2025, the USPS has not responded to any inquiries from leaders in Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte or Gunnison County. Closing this post office would be catastrophic since this area does not receive any home delivery. The Gunnison Post Office, a small facility located 30 miles away, is not a viable alternative.”
Bennet, Hickenlooper and Hurd asked for an official USPS response on whether the USPS plans to make a decision on the construction of a new facility in Crested Butte.
How it plans to provide service after the current lease expires and a new facility might be under construction; how USPS will provide service to the northern Gunnison Valley if it does not choose to proceed with construction; if the USPS plans on signing a new lease; where the potential location would be and when will it share those locations; and asks the USPS to stay in regular contact with officials until the “critical issue is addressed.”
Billick said having bipartisan national representatives on board with the effort to figure out the future of a post office in Crested Butte will be beneficial for the community.
“We saw improvements in service two years ago when we brought attention to our long lines and lack of delivery at the post office,” Billick said. “Getting Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, and Representative Hurd to draw attention to the potential loss of postal services when the lease expires next year is one of the best ways to lift our voice.”
The letter ends with the call for a response by the end of the month. “USPS provides critical services to our constituents, from delivering life-saving medications to helping our small businesses ship their goods across the country. It is deeply concerning that the USPS is not working with these communities to address their urgent need for continued and reliable mail service. We look forward to working with you to address this community concern and for your prompt response by March 28, 2025,” the letter concludes.