HYDE PARK — The U.S. Postal Service has permanently closed its University of Chicago branch.
The post office at 956 E. 58th St. was scheduled to be moved this summer because of the university’s plan to demolish its home in Ingleside Hall, but it closed suddenly on Friday before a new location could be found.
A spokesman for the post office said computer problems contributed to the decision to close the branch, but declined to elaborate.
The university and the post office had been in discussions for more than a year to find a new location for the branch.
“We would like to remain on the campus, but the university has not provided us with a space that meets our utilization needs,” said Mark Reynolds, a spokesman for the post office.
In February, the university announced plans to raze the building to expand the quad around the biological sciences building.
Built as the faculty club in 1896, Ingleside Hall had only the post office left as a tenant after the university’s human resources department moved out. The post office was expected to move out in mid-June.
The post office operates two other branches in Hyde Park — at 1510 E. 55th St. at the Hyde Park Shopping Center and the Henry McGee Post Office at 4601 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
