Saying farewell: Star Tribune makes its move to new offices
Sunday morning's newspaper marks the end of an era.
It's the last Star Tribune produced at the nearly 100-year-old building on Portland Avenue South, the newspaper said, and also marks the end of Minneapolis' iconic newspaper buildings.
“People have a lot of nice memories. It’s ink-stained in a charming way,” Rene Sanchez, the Star Tribune’s executive editor, told WCCO. “It’s a little emotional for some of us to move, but I think there is widespread enthusiasm and excitement.”
Monday's paper will be produced at the Star Tribune's at the Capella Tower complex at 650 3rd Ave. S.
The move "signals a whole new era" of the newspaper business as the state's largest media company ditches its large industrial building, which had room for over 2,500 people, for a modern newsroom, an editorial in the Star Tribune said.
The 600-person company will occupy the 11th through 13th floors of the Park Building, which will be rebranded the Star Tribune building, MPR News says.
WCCO took a look inside the newspaper's new digs:
This embed is invalid
Two-thirds of the company moved to the new space earlier this month, while the 250-person newsroom made the move this weekend, MPR says.
And in true reporter fashion, they live-tweeted the emotional goodbye.
The Star Tribune has a look back video of its former home, while MPR News has more photos of the move from old to new.
The Star Tribune sold the iconic space in November 2013, which spurred the Downtown East redevelopment near the new Minnesota Vikings' stadium. The sale helped the newspaper pay off its remaining debt before local billionaire Glen Taylor bought the company, the Star Tribune reported.
“The move made tremendous financial sense,” Mike Klingensmith, publisher of the newspaper, said in a story last week. “Our land was a significant asset, so we had to realize that.”
The old home of the Star Tribune will be demolished this summer. Construction of two nearby office towers is underway, while there are plans to put a four-acre park in the Star Tribune's place, WCCO says.
The Star Tribune says it is joining a number of other newspapers across the nation that have downsized from "outdated, signature buildings while modernizing their workspace in the process." Among them: The New York Times in 2007, the Wall Street Journal in 2009, the Des Moines Register and Miami Herald in 2013.
The Star Tribune owns the Heritage printing plant in the Minneapolis Warehouse District, where the newspaper will continue to be printed, MPR News says.
