Thorough Repair Completed On

Cooperstown Post Office Steps

COOPERSTOWN – Regular patrons at Cooperstown’s post office, across from the Hall of Fame, were met with a treat when they checked postal boxes this morning:  The front steps, long patched and uneven, were almost as good as new.

Yesterday afternoon, a crew from Mattoon Construction, Liverpool, completed what amounted to almost a reconstruction of the well-used entryway.   In contrast to short-lived patching of recent years, the Mattoon crew cut the individual treds back 4 inches and down 6 inches, then set up forms and repoured the steps.

Kevin Sattler, a member of the Mattoon crew, said, because of heavy use of de-icing compounds during winters to keep the steps safe for the stamp-buying public, steps tend to deteriorate pretty quickly. Patching is a short-term solution; partial reconstruction is a better answer, and should serve the public longer.

Cooperstown is not alone in this: Mattoon, the crew said, has a contract with the U.S. Postal Service to do similar work on facilities around the state.