The Walden Lake community once again has a mail drop-off box.
The box, which was removed about four years ago due to vandalism, including being lit on fire, was restored to its former post last week. The box, located just before the guard house on Timberlane Drive, will service the nearly 2,400 homes in the Walden Lake community.
Prior to the box being returned to Walden Lake, residents had to drive to the mail drop-off boxes in Historic Downtown. The boxes were located at the closed post office on Reynolds Street.
The restoration of the box was made possible by the continued efforts of Walden Lake resident and former WLCA director Jack Wolff. In January, Wolff told the WLCA board that he had submitted papers requesting the box for processing, but frequently faced challenges due to constant post officer circulation.
“I’ve lost count of the number of months I’ve spent trying to get this back,” Wolff said.
WLCA President Bob Hunter, along with Wolff and the Mark Barnes, the officer in charge of the Plant City Post Office, held a ribbon cutting for the mailbox on Tuesday, March 15.
To dissuade vandalism now that the box has been reinstated, security cameras have been installed in the guard houses on Timberlane Drive that will be able to catch any criminal acts. In previous years, security cameras faced the opposite direction.
Residents will be able to pull through a small driveway as they leave the Walden Lake community to drop off their mail. The reinstallation of the drop-off box saves residents a two-mile trip to downtown.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.