Montrose Daily Press Moves Into New Facility
The Montrose Daily Press, a Wick Communications daily newspaper serving the local community since its founding in 1882, began a new era in publishing on Monday, Sept. 25, 2006 with the opening of its new campus.
The new facility is located one mile north of La Salle Road, north of Flower Motor Co., and the Montrose Regional Airport. The Daily Press has been printing at this “north Montrose” location since June, 2004.
A week after the opening, the construction of a storage and garage facility will begin. When finished, the Daily Press will have a three-building campus which will reflect the diversity of 21st century newspaper publishing: print and electronic.
The opening represents the culmination of six years of planning, design and construction, and a $4 million investment into the greater Montrose community.
The Daily Press has been downtown since its founding, on May 23, 1882. Its first issue coincided with the founding of the county and city it has served.
“I believe Montrose is a city on the rise and have said so often,” said Daily Press publisher Stephen Woody. “The opportunities here are limitless, and this new facility reflects the entrepreneurial spirit of this area, and the spirit of its citizens to progress and enrich its environs for the generations to come.
“We’ve been Montrose’s hometown newspaper since its founding. We will continue in these roles of advocate and community journalist, both in print and electronically.”
Coinciding with the opening of the new building is an upgrading of the Daily Press’ web printing press. The newspaper is adding five press units, including a four-stack color unit which will give the Daily Press and its advertisers more options for color placement and page sequencing. It is the third press upgrade in the last eight years.
“The Daily Press plays a critical role in the civic life of our community. Since new ownership took over in the mid-1990’s, I’ve seen the paper introduce many innovations that, in my view , have improved the civic dialogue,” said Montrose mayor Noelle Hagan, adding, “The frosting on the cake is the Daily Press’ investment in this beautiful new building. It represents their commitment to the community and sets a new standard in aesthetics.”
Patrik Davis and Associates designed the three-building campus. Weslin, LLC was the general contractor for the new office building. Ridgway Valley Enterprises built phase one, the press and distribution facility. In all, there is more than 22,000 square feet of space.
The exterior features of the new Montrose Daily Press facility make it one of the most unique and recognizable buildings in the community:
* That bold, distinctive window in front, which resembles a crystal ship’s bow, is actually an education center and conference room. It points due west, and to the future.
* The Press’ remarkable landscaping, designed by landscape architect Julee Wolverton, includes a bronze sculpture garden, a reflecting pool, a water feature, several garden areas, and almost 100 trees and assorted plantings. The intricate landscaping, combined with the water and western views, adds a degree of serenity and beauty, particularly at sunset. The water feature recalls Western Colorado’s mountains and streams, and how they’re such a source of pride to citizens who are blessed to live there.
* The landscaping also complements the distinctive building shape. Robert J. Wick, a nationally known sculptor in bronze, is the artist of the centerpiece, Land Bridge II, which features living plants inside the bronze. Wick currently has a bronze show at Denver’s Botanical Gardens. His work has been featured at galleries, university campuses and botanical gardens throughout the U.S. The large, “living” bronze sculpture reflects a cohabitation of humanity and nature, and is the visual accent point of the landscaping.
* That sign - simple enough - reflects traditional newspaper strengths, embellished with futuristic electronic publishing — Montrose Daily Press and www.montrosepress.com.
* The outdoor features also include two patios for staff enjoyment. “Basically, our employees could either stand in the parking lot, or alley, or come inside, at our downtown location,” said Woody. “Now they’ll be able to take a break outside, or continue their work in these patio areas. They really add a degree of sparkle to an already outstanding facility.”
And that’s just the outside.
Inside, it’s just as unique, efficient, and user-friendly. And like Montrose itself, it has room to expand.
Some of the features include:
* The education center and conference room, which is a visual feature as north and southbound traffic go by. It’ll be used for meetings, conferences and training.
* The new media studio will enable the Daily Press to continue its ongoing development of streaming video of community events, plus allow it to do a number of Internet-related options, like live video, podcasting and other new media for the reader and viewer. This room will be the center for the newspaper’s web site activity at www.montrosepress.com. The studio will feature a stage, video cameras and sound equipment in order to do live, or streaming podcasts of community news, features and interviews.
* “Flex space” was purposely designed into the building, because of anticipated growth of Montrose and subsequently, additional staffing for news, advertising and multimedia products. The new space will be used as a connecting lobby.
* All of the departments - news, advertising, classified, circulation, accounting and administrative - have been expanded and include new furniture and fixtures. Staff members have two lounge areas now for breaks. There is also an expanded office and work space for the manager of information systems, Chris Kennedy.
* General manager/marketing director Tim Frates and managing editor Bill Swaim have expanded work areas and conference rooms for staff meetings and interviews.
The telephone number of the Daily Press will be the same: (970) 249-3444. The new address is 3684 N. Townsend.