Former Sheboygan Press staffers recall the moment presses stopped 25 years ago. ‘It was a Good Run,’ the headline read.
SHEBOYGAN - The last vibrations of printing were felt at 632 Center Ave. in Sheboygan — the long-time home of the Sheboygan Press — 25 years ago.
Owned by Thomson Newspapers at the time, the printing press was retired because parts were no longer easily obtained.
Normally when a newspaper has a story about itself, it's about the awards its reporting staff has won. This time, however, a different story was told Monday, April 27, 1998, when headlines shouted, "It was a Good Run", a finale to the 54-year run of the printing press in Sheboygan.
That press, a Goss 5-unit anti-friction press, was capable of some 50,000 copies per hour and weighed 188 tons. It was made in 1943.
The printing press sat upon a slab of concrete 30 inches thick, 50 feet long and 11 feet wide, independent of the rest of the building. But that didn't stop everyone inside the building from feeling the printing vibrations during a press run.
According to retired reporter Linda McAlpine, when the press was running, the building would seem to shake.
"I would sometimes see folks gathered at the big windows outside, little kids pressing their faces up against the glass to get a better view," McAlpine said. "Truly the end of an era."
When the used press was installed in 1955, it was installed in a window-covered enclosure so the public could see its daily operation.
Back then, the Sheboygan Press announced a $500,000 plan that it would replace its aging Duplex press, which had been in service since 1924.
At the time, Press executives said the new printing press would improve the paper for readers and advertisers with the new state-of-the-art installation.
Retired reporter Dawn Jax Belleau recalled: "The press was such a large machine. Just the very size of it made it very interesting. This machine carried such an aura."
For many years, the press hummed along like a train, printing thousands of editions of the paper.
On Dec. 4, 1997, according to a Sheboygan Press clipping supplied by the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, a gear on the press broke, rendering the paper unable to publish. Repairs took more than 11 days, and the Thomson-owned paper once again printed in Sheboygan. During the repair time, Thomson's Fond du Lac Reporter press printed the papers. Page negatives had to be driven over to Fond du Lac daily for the paper to get printed. This was before file transfer technologies we use today.
"Moving from an antiquated printing press to another site to print the Sheboygan Press allowed greater use of color for both news and advertising," retired city editor Joe Gulig said. "It allowed our page editors to be more creative in page design. This was a plus for our readers; made the paper more attractive."
At the time, it was estimated a new press would cost $5 million to $12 million.
Looking back, according to former printing employee Bob Piontkowski, "To do that whole printing process in one building was exciting. From the rush to make the deadline to the rumble of the running press … wow … so much fun with a lot of good people involved."
After the 1997 breakdown, printing was moved to Fond du Lac on the Fond du Lac Reporter’s offset press. Gannett would buy the paper in 2000. Later, the Fond du Lac press closed, and printing was moved to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for several years.
Then, the printing was moved to Gannett's Appleton printing facility for a time. When Gannett bought the Journal group, the Press was printed again in Milwaukee. The paper is now printed in Peoria, Illinois, at the Peoria Journal-Star as economics has forced newspapers to consolidate printing operations as today's news product becomes increasingly focused on online efforts.
To see the image larger, click here.
RELATED - The latest on the former Sheboygan Press building's redevelopment
RELATED - Early Sheboygan County sawmill was reborn at Wade House thanks to Kohler Foundation | Throwback
RELATED - Sheboygan museum is home to this 1860s log cabin built | Throwback
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Former Sheboygan Press staffers recall moment presses stopped