As plans move forward to sell off the federal property now occupied by the U.S. Post Office/Midway Processing and Distribution Facility in Point Loma, the Peninsula Woman’s Club is petitioning city officials to lobby for help to turn the site a into senior citizen housing and community center. Lee Sharp, president of the Peninsula Woman’s Club, said the growing number of elderly in the Point Loma and Ocean Beach areas would benefit most from the proposal. “I just know that [there] is such a great percentage of seniors and they’re in need,” Sharp said. “[The woman’s club] has vans and volunteer drivers to take them to places they need to go.” Currently, volunteers with the woman’s club and other organizations help seniors who cannot renew their driver’s license. If several resources were consolidated in a single spot at the Midway Drive location, it would provide an easier way for seniors to have their needs met, Sharp said. Sharp added that a community center there would provide a social element for those who are not able to get around. The social/civic club recently sent a letter to the city asking that the property be designated for senior living and community resources. The problem, according to Mayor Jerry Sanders’ representative Rachel Laing, is that the city really doesn’t have a say in how the property can be used. The property is under federal control. “If they decide they’d like to convey the property to the city, as they did with the old Naval Training Center, we’d be thrilled to take it off their hands,” Laing said in an e-mailed statement. “Sadly, however, that does not appear to be their intention.” Once the central hub of San Diego mail processing and distribution, postal officials slowly redistributed its work and are now slating the facility for eventual sale. Since announcing the move, proposals ranging from a Costco store to a homeless facility have been batted about. No decision from post office headquarters has yet been disclosed. The sale and decision process could take several more months before anything is settled, said Postal Service spokeswoman Eva Jackson in January. Today, the Midway Drive facility handles about 1.8 million pieces of mail each day — about one-tenth of the volume handled by the central distribution center in Carmel Valley, according to postal officials.
