Gazette opens office building with new press

Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006

The Gazette’s Silver Spring office has moved from rented space to a company office building in Laurel equipped with a state-of-the-art printing press that will eventually allow the paper to print full-color editions.

‘‘You’ll see better photos. It’ll be a more crisp looking newspaper,” said Frank Abbott, group president of the Gazette’s Prince George’s County operation.

Abbott said the new press is much faster and better able to produce color than the company’s Gaithersburg and Waldorf presses.

‘‘Some of the presses we have now are between 30 and 40 years old,” Abbott said.

Lloyd Batzler, managing editor for the community newspaper group of Post-Newsweek Media, said the paper will begin publishing section fronts in color within the next two months, and eventually phase in full color throughout.

He said the color capability ‘‘greatly enhances our ability to tell news with pictures and art.”

The company plans to consolidate all printing jobs at the new Laurel press. This includes The Gazette in Carroll, Frederick, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, The Gazette of Politics and Business, and the Southern Maryland Newspapers in Charles, St. Mary’s and Calvert counties.

The 750-ton press was shipped from Japan and can print as many as 90,000 newspapers per hour. The company also prints other publications, such as The Afro and the Legal Times.

Construction on the 92,400-square-foot building began in December 2005 and was completed on time. It is part of a $42 million construction and renovation effort.

News staff moved in Friday. The Gazette’s Prince George’s office also moved from Landover to the Laurel location.

The office is located at 13501 Virginia Manor Road in Laurel. The main phone number is 240-473-7500.

A formal dedication is expected in 2007.