Tuesday, May 22, 2012
STAYING IN AUGUSTA
By Susan M. Cover scover@mainetoday.com
State House Bureau
AUGUSTA -- The Kennebec Journal moved to a new location Sunday, the beginning of a new chapter in the storied history of the state's oldest newspaper.
Workers roll a table out of the Kennebec Journal building Sunday morning on Western Avenue in Augusta.
Staff photo by Andy Molloy
Tom Therriault, right, sets up a computer Sunday at the Kennebec Journal's new office off Anthony Avenue in Augusta.
Staff photo by Andy Molloy
Movers hauled the last of the computers, desks and boxes from the 274 Western Ave. offices to new office space at 36 Anthony Ave. What was once a vibrant newsroom was all but empty Sunday morning as computers used by night editors and other office equipment was moved to the new location.
An eraser board in an executive office still listed the game plan for covering the 2010 governor's race and usually noisy police scanners were silent during the transition.
Starting today, 40 full and part-time employees in the news and advertising departments will report to work in new, smaller office space in the Augusta Business Park.
Anthony Ronzio, editor and publisher of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel in Waterville, said the company was able to move to more modern office space despite difficult times for newspapers.
"To be able to do this is a testament to our leadership and to how this company has been restructured so swiftly to be not only one of Maine's leading companies, but a leader in our industry regionally," he said.
The newspaper, which started in 1825 as a weekly publication, moved to the Western Avenue location in 1961. For 50 years, it has been a second home to hundreds of staffers who made sure the paper got out each day.
One of the those staffers, copy editor Stephanie Law, recounted some of her personal memories in a Sunday opinion column. Law began working for the paper in 1976.
"Many people who work here are happy and excited to be leaving this old building at 274 Western Avenue and moving into a new space, but the move is bittersweet for me, and a little sad," she wrote.
The move follows nearly two years of changes at the newspaper, following the sale of the company from Blethen Maine Newspapers to MaineToday Media in July 2009. The KJ was sold along with sister papers the Morning Sentinel, The Portland Press Herald, and Maine Sunday Telegram.
Later that year, in December, the company stopped printing the KJ and Sentinel at the Western Avenue office and moved print operations to the company's South Portland printing plant. It sold the press that had been located on Western Avenue, leaving a large empty room. Also, staff reductions and transfers of some departments to other locations meant the building was too large for the needs of the newspaper.
The new office is clean, bright and modern. Reporters, photographers, news clerks, page designers, sports staff and editors will all work side by side as they prepare the newspaper for online and print editions each day. The classified and retail advertising sales team is near the front entrance.
Sports Editor Scott Martin, who's been with the KJ for 14 years, unpacked a few items at his desk Sunday as he prepared to get the sports section ready for today's paper.
"The biggest thing for us is we're in the newsroom now," he said. "The communication will be better now that we're in the same open space. It will be a lot more of a team feeling than in the old building."
The Western Avenue location is for sale and is listed with Properties Northeast in Portland for $2.6 million, according to information listed online. Last year, the newspaper announced that it would be selling the building to a local nonprofit, but the sale fell through.
Nevertheless, the paper moved forward with its plan to vacate the building, which is 52,900 square feet -- much of it industrial space -- on 5.28 acres.
The KJ is now leasing 6,000 square feet in the Anthony Avenue location. The Augusta relocation comes nearly a year after the Portland Press Herald moved from its Congress Street headquarters in Portland to office space at One City Center.
Ronzio said the company will now consider upgrades to the Waterville office to ensure the needs of staff are adequately met at the Sentinel.
He said the KJ move heralds a new era for the newspaper.
"We were never going to be who we are until we got out of our old building," he said. "The building was a very static reminder of what we used to be. This is a clear indication to the public that we are going to change dramatically over the next several years."
Susan Cover -- 620-7015
scover@mainetoday.com
Anyone needing services from the newspaper, including advertisers, those with questions about newspaper delivery or obituaries, can get help at the new Kennebec Journal office at 36 Anthony Ave. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The main phone line continues to be 623-3811. For the obituary department, call 621-5661.
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Copyright ©2012 MaineToday Media, Inc.
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