The U.S. Postal Service is considering three sites as potential locations for a new Sylva post office.

The post office, built in 1961, is at full capacity, with no room for expansion. The office is not handicapped accessible and cannot be adapted to be so, said Sylva postmaster Steve Allen.

The sites under consideration include a tract at the north end of Jackson Plaza; existing space at Jackson Plaza; and nearly three acres located off N.C. 107 on Hensley Circle, according to a letter written to town officials by Bob Rizzuto, a U.S. Postal Service real estate specialist in Greensboro.

Sylva postmaster Steve Allen has not indicated a site preference, but said he would like to see the post office built from scratch.

“My personal preference would be to build a new post office and not try to renovate an existing building,” Allen said.

Sylva town officials appear to concur, having spoken out in favor of the north end Jackson Plaza site, writing to Rizzuto to endorse the site’s selection. The property was nearly purchased four years go, but following Sept. 11 and anthrax attacks on the postal service, a freeze was placed on new post office construction nationwide, Allen said.

The post office on the north end of the plaza, and the new library to be constructed on the plaza’s south end would serve as visual bookends of sorts.

Sketches of the plaza drawn by Sylva-architect Odell Thompson show the potential for the two public properties to be connected by a tree-lined walkway, unifying the plaza. The sketches are in no way sanctioned or approved by town leaders, the postal service nor library officials.

The newest post office in the area was built in Bryson City. Sylva’s new office most likely will adopt a similar architectural style, Allen said.

Sites once considered and now rejected by the postal service include a site on the west side of N.C. 107 south near N.C. 119 — too small and outside the preferred area; land off Business 23 on Dillardtown Road — too small; land on the corner of Fairview Road and Ashe Loop Road — outside of the preferred area; and land on Fairview Road just east of N.C. 107 — outside the preferred area.

Selection of any of the three sites under consideration may fall subject to criticism similar to that of the choice for the new Jackson County library, also in Jackson Plaza. Many feel that the site is not close enough to walk to. The current post office is located on Landis Street just off Main Street.

“I know it’s not downtown, but there’s no property available,” Allen said.