[4/20/04]Mail pickup is returning to 5 p.m. this week at the Crawford Street Post Office after earlier pickups drew the ire of business owners.

Vicksburg District Postmaster Tim Costello said the Postal Service will make the change as soon as new stickers arrive showing the former times.

In March, the downtown pickups were changed to speed up delivery to the main office in Jackson.

Pickup times at most downtown boxes will stay between 2:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. to get more mail on the first truck leaving for Jackson.

Costello said the tradeoff will be fewer drop boxes in other locations, “ones that don’t get as much mail.”

There were 15 corner drop boxes throughout Vicksburg, and Costello said that number will drop by three. Drop boxes were removed at 1800 Monroe St., 1301 Washington St., and 1604 Cherry St.

Vicksburg’s main post office is on Pemberton Boulevard. Boxes outside the former main post office, on Crawford, are used by many downtown merchants and professionals who rely on the mail for business purposes. Pickup times were moved up to get more mail out on a truck that leaves Vicksburg at 4 p.m. The latest truck leaves the Pemberton Post Office around 6:15, but makes stops in Edwards and Bolton and does not get to Jackson until too late for the outgoing mail to be sorted that day.

Postal officials are also looking at options to move or contract out downtown postal business. The building has been sold to a private developer, and currently rent costs $8,900 per month for space on the first floor.

Costello has said that if a contract cannot be worked out with the new owner, they may seek to contract out postal services to a downtown business.

The former federal courthouse was bought at auction for $635,000 by the Courthouse Partners LLC. The deal is expected to close in June if accepted by the General Services Administration, the federal government’s property manager.