The race is on to save the La Jolla post office building. In a rare meeting of the minds, civic and business groups throughout the Village have locked arms and formed a task force through the La Jolla Historical Society to preserve the post office building at 1140 Wall St. The goal is to keep the building as is, Belle Baranceanu murals and all, and the postal operations right where they are. The group rallied Feb. 4 on the Historical Society lawn to officially launch its plan. District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner spoke and led the crowd of more than 100 people in a “save our post office” chant just as the 10 a.m. bells chimed from St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church. Task force members spoke, rally goers signed petitions and some La Jollans shared their post office memories, videotaped for posterity by photographer Daniel Soderberg. The task force is now waiting to hear when the U.S. Postal Service will hold a community meeting. The group has requested Feb. 29, according to Leslie Davis, task force leader. Postal Service spokeswoman Eva Jackson said a date has not yet been set. At the rally, Davis presented three scenarios for keeping the building. “The post office is much, much more than a post office, it’s the heart of our community,” she said. Plan A, she said, would stop the closure and sale of the building, while Plan B would buy the property through a preservation fund and lease space back to the post office. Plan C would find a buyer who would preserve the building. The USPS announced on Jan. 10 its need to sell the post office, built in 1935, to raise much-needed capital. The USPS reported a net loss of $5.1 billion last year and must reduce its operating costs by $20 billion to return to profitability by 2015. Soon after the plan to sell the building was made public, Ellen Merewether seeded the effort to save the building with a $10,000 donation to the La Jolla Historical Society Preservation Fund. “I’m really, really tired of seeing beautiful buildings in La Jolla knocked down to put in condos,” she said. Since her initial donation, another $6,000 has been raised. “We would love to find a group of donors or another nonprofit to partner with to save the building.” The task force has also created a website, www.savelajollapostoffice.org, as well as a Facebook page, www.face- book.com/savethelajollapostoffice. Signatures are being collected to send a petition to the Postal Regulatory Commission. The petition requests that the La Jolla post office be considered a closure — as opposed to a relocation — in the USPS’ nationwide downsizing. “Relocations have less visibility and less process,” Davis said. More than 600 signatures were collected at the rally. The petition is available for signing at the Historical Society, Mondays through Saturdays, as well as at Warwick’s Bookstore and Pannikin Coffee & Tea. “It’s a tough fight,” Davis said. “There’s very little transparency. Where’s the information and definition as to why the building is being sold? It’s all moving so fast.” Still, Davis said she remains optimistic. “I expect the post office is going to stay exactly where it is, in that building, with that mural,” she said. “I’m sticking with Plan A.”