The hits just seem to keep on coming for downtown Camas.

For the downtown Camas business community, the upcoming sale of the historic post office building probably does feel like a hard hit, or perhaps even a left hook or a body blow, when combined with the Liberty Theater's closure last September.

As reported in the Post-Record recently, the downtown post office building will be put up for sale in the coming weeks, in order to consolidate operations into the Southeast Eighth Avenue structure near Highway 14 for cost savings purposes.

However, for many nearby residents and businesses, the departure of the downtown location simply means an added inconvenience, a loss of valuable foot traffic for the downtown area, and the passing of a historic landmark. For them it's hard to see any silver lining in the news of the post office's departure.

No one can dispute that the downtown post office generated foot traffic for the area. But isn't it time to accept the inevitable and start thinking about what kinds of businesses could succeed and be beneficial to downtown as a whole, in that location?

Think of the possibilities. The building is a historic structure, in an extremely visible location. There are several large windows that could be really open up the feel of the interior for say a steak house or seafood restaurant.

Yes, the structure would require considerable remodeling and repairs to achieve that. But what great potential it has as a new landmark for Camas.

Are there other possibilities for the building? If not a steak and seafood restaurant, how about an upscale brew pub, or a family style restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner? Certainly Camas and Washougal residents would support an additional eatery of that sort.

OK you say, we need to put the restaurant concept on the back burner for the building. So, how about a retail outlet to compliment what downtown already has? With nearly everybody carrying cameras these days, couldn't a camera store, with complete repair services, draw enough traffic to flourish at that site? Or a Beacock's style musical instrument /music lessons store? What about a new competitor to Radio Shack at that location, with all the electronics, phone and computer accessories we all seem to need?

Slightly less glamorous, but perhaps more reliable, candidates for the site might be more traditional downtown businesses, such as a new bank branch, or a mailing service such as Mailboxes Plus or Postal Annex. Just think of the built in customer base a mailing service would have at that location.

Of course, all of these ideas require the time and energy of someone, or some entity, to pursue possible investors in the downtown site. Camas would have to put its best foot forward and really sell the possibilities the location has to offer.

But isn't being optimistic and proactive better than waiting for the post office's inevitable closure and bemoaning only the negative possibilities?

Mike Gallagher can be reached at 834-2141 or at mike.gallagher@camaspostrecord.com.