Soon, five digits will give Crestwood residents and businesses something of a new identity.
A recent mailing by the Postal Service informed them that the village’s ZIP code of 60418 will take effect July 1.
The village had learned a year ago that it had gotten the OK for a ZIP code of its own — it shares 60445 with Midlothian — but that it wouldn’t take effect until this year.
The mailing points out that the Postal Service is giving the village a one-year grace period if residents, out of habit, continue to use the old number after July 1. Mail sent to Crestwood addresses with the 60445 code will continue to be delivered for a year.
Getting its own ZIP code reflects the village’s growth, particularly as far as commercial development, Mayor Lou Presta said.
“We have 600 businesses here,” he said.
The Postal Service had required a certain percentage of homeowners and businesses to complete and return surveys supporting a separate ZIP code for the village.
Not enough completed surveys were returned to the Postal Service during the first attempt in 2015, but Crestwood was given a second chance and last year hit the required mark.
“We went door to door, we begged people” last year to fill out the surveys, Presta said. “We got it done.”
He said the Postal Service didn’t tell the village what the tally from last year’s effort was.
“They only told us we had enough,” he said.
Presta said that getting a post office for the village “will be my next challenge.”
It could be quite a long shot considering the U.S. Postal Service’s financial troubles — it posted a loss of $5.6 billion for the fiscal year that ended last Sept. 30.
Crestwood recently bought the former Illinois State Police District 4 headquarters, 13863 S. Cicero Ave., for $1 and plans to demolish the crumbling structure. Presta suggested the village might work in concert with the Postal Service to get the building into usable condition as a post office.
“We could probably give them that building for $1 a year,” he said. “It would be a great place, right on Cicero.”
Twitter @mnolan_J
