The city of Sisters and the U.S. Postal Service are moving forward with plans for a new post office on the north side of town — and for additional downtown mailboxes to keep mail pickup convenient for more residents in the growing community.

Construction could start as soon as next month on the new, 5,000-square-foot facility on North Larch Street, which is about a half-mile north of the current downtown location on South Fir Street, said Anita Boucher, the post office’s head window clerk.

Details of the new building are still being worked out with the contractor. But in the meantime, city officials are mapping out possible locations for clustered mailboxes that will be put up around the city. They’re also doing their best to reassure residents concerned about the loss of the downtown post office, which for many is as much of a social destination as it is a practical stop.

“The post office made a decision that they need a bigger facility and space to work here, outside of what’s currently the downtown corridor,” said Sisters Mayor Brad Boyd. “And at the time they first came to us with this, about a year ago, I know people were a little upset. But they’re not going to stay where they are, and we have to make the best of it.”

Part of that compromise includes ongoing planning for clustered mailboxes that will be put up around town. Currently, the post office does not deliver mail door-to-door in the central area of Sisters, so residents and business owners pick up their mail at the downtown post office.

The new plan, said City Manager Eileen Stein, is to find convenient locations for the stand-alone mailboxes so all of the traffic doesn’t follow the post office north to Larch Street.

Stein said the City Council took up the issue in a recent meeting and plans to hold public meetings to gather input once the preliminary map is completed.

“We’re in the process of trying to decide where those locations will be,” she said. “The council was just looking at the map the other day and made a couple of modifications, and when the map gets revised, we’ll ship that out to the community.”

Boyd said about 400 mailboxes are needed for residents and businesses located downtown and in the south part of town.

Post office employees are looking forward to a more spacious facility that will better accommodate the city’s needs, Boucher said. The goal is to make the move by late fall.

“We’d love to have it done by November,” she said. “But like anything, that’s subject to change.”