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Steamboat Springs — Relocating the downtown post office would be an expensive, multi-year process but could result in a new recreation or youth facility at the downtown site, city officials said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Steamboat Springs City Council voted to discuss a relocation of the Old Town branch of the U.S. Post Office during a future council meeting, possibly as soon as Dec. 5. The post office is at Third Street and Lincoln Avenue, in a 28,000-square-foot building that also houses real estate and legal offices.

On Wednesday, council members and local Postmaster Frank Murphy acknowledged that traffic concerns and limited space at the downtown post office could soon necessitate a move, but they cautioned that relocating a federally owned facility would likely take at least three years.

City Council President Pro-tem Susan Dellinger said the lengthy relocation process should begin as soon as possible.

"The post office needs space," Dellinger said. "And if that building frees up and becomes a real playable location in downtown for us to do something better with, I think we should pursue that."

Council member Paul Strong said the council has several issues to iron out before progressing with relocation plans.

"I think we need to talk about if the city wants to own that site, and if so, for what purpose and at what cost," Strong said. "For me, we need to make those decisions before we spend a lot of time and energy looking at moving ahead."

Strong said before the post office can be relocated, the city must build a new post office for the federal government, which would then grant Steamboat the current downtown site in exchange.

"There would be some accounting at the end to make sure the values of the two sites are similar," Strong said.

Murphy said moving the downtown post office to a new site could alleviate traffic at the congested Third Street intersection.

"I think a move is needed to better serve the community," Murphy said. "There are traffic problems - it's mainly the traffic and the location."

Strong said traffic could occur at the Third Street site regardless of its use.

"The only (other use) I've heard anyone mention is recreation, to build a swimming pool there," Strong said. "But if you replace the post office with a swimming pool, I don't know that the traffic gets any better - it could get worse."

Murphy said he has not talked with city officials about moving the post office. That discussion, he said, is conducted through the regional U.S. Postal Service office in Denver.

City Council President Ken Brenner and City Manager Alan Lanning met with regional post office staff in Denver on Nov. 16.

"They're aware of the situation here, where offices don't have enough space to run their business," Brenner said. "They want to change that, and they were glad to hear that we are interested in helping with that process."

Brenner said a new post office would consolidate the city's two post offices - the other office is in the Sundance at Fish Creek shopping center - and most likely would be built in Old Town.

"Post offices are an important institution to have near the center of your town," he said.

Brenner also said a youth or teen center is Steamboat's "No. 1 need" in terms of facilities, and the post office site adjacent to the Old Town Hot Springs recreation center would be ideal for such a use.

"A youth facility to me is an interesting discussion," Brenner said. "But we sure can't wait three years to do that."

Dellinger said she first met with regional officials to discuss moving the downtown post office in 1994.

"At that time they didn't think the city's growth made a move necessary," Dellinger said. "Now they're interested in talking about it."

- To reach Mike Lawrence, call 871-4203

or e-mail mlawrence@steamboatpilot.com