Re-vamped Roberts Building provides new home for post office, parking services
University and USPS officials pose following a ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Roberts Building at MSU. Pictured, from left to right, are: Post Office Retail Manager Lupe Licudine, Retail Specialist Monica Tucker, North Central Post Office Operations Manager Jeff Harrell, MSU Postmaster Ken Oglesbee, MSU President Mark E. Keenum, MSU Director of Parking, Transit and Sustainability Jeremiah Dumas, Executive Director of Campus Services George Davis, Vice President for Campus Services Amy Tuck and Assistant Director of Parking and Transit Services Ronnie White. PHOTO: Russ Houston | Public Affairs
Mississippi State University and U.S. Postal Service officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Monday [Oct. 3] to celebrate a $3.1 million renovation that has revitalized the Roberts Building at MSU.
The renovated space on Lee Boulevard now houses the MSU Post Office, MSU Office of Parking and Transit Services and Burger King.
“I am thrilled with how the Roberts Building has evolved to support our parking services office and the U.S. Postal Service here at Mississippi State,” MSU President Mark E. Keenum said.
“This is something we have been working to achieve for quite some time, and it has turned out extremely well. This is a much better location, with easier access,” Keenum added.
Both the post office and parking and transit office moved into the space from the YMCA Building this spring. MSU Director of Parking, Transit and Sustainability Jeremiah Dumas said the renovated space is more functional for staff and for the regular influx of visitors into the building. Laurel-based Larry J. Sumrall Contractors was the contractor for the project.
“The laundry had been here since the early 1900s,” Dumas said. “All the old pipes were still in here. Everything was in here. We closed the laundry three or four years ago and slowly started removing items. When they came in and started ripping everything out, it really exposed how much space and character was in here.”
The design features an open lobby shared by the post office and parking services. The USPS mailboxes remain available 24 hours a day, while the parking services and USPS service counter maintain regular business hours.
MSU Office of Planning Design and Construction Administration Director Tim Muzzi said Ocean Springs-based architecture firm Allred Architectural Group worked to incorporate the university’s vision for an open and welcoming building into the final product.
“They were able to take our vision and put it graphically and design-wise into that building,” Muzzi said. “I think we turned a sow’s ear into a silk purse.”
The Roberts Building provides easier customer access for the parking services offices and the post office. The building has 10 parking spaces for visitors, two of which are handicap spots. Those parking spots are designated as 10-minute parking, but there is additional metered parking on the Burger King side of the building.
“The new location is a lot more convenient for our trucks and especially for customers who are coming from off campus,” Postmaster Ken Oglesbee said. “People who live in east Starkville can get to us very easily.”
The MSU post office, which is run by the United States Postal Service, offers P.O. boxes for $20 per six months, the lowest rate available in the country. Because the post office does not deliver to on-campus residence hall rooms, Oglesbee recommends that residential students who regularly shop online or wish to receive mail on campus rent a P.O. box.
The new post office location also includes a feature that makes it easier for customers to receive their larger packages. The Roberts Building contains 20 parcel lockers that are accessible 24/7. If a package has been delivered that does not fit into a P.O. box, the package may be placed in a parcel locker. Customers can then pick up the key to the parcel locker from their P.O. box at their own convenience.
For more information on MSU Parking and Transit Services, visit www.parkingservices.msstate.edu.
To contact the MSU Post Office, call 662-323-5772.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
James Carskadon | Public Affairs
