Capital City Press Breaks Ground on Newspaper Plant in Louisiana

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Capital City Press (Baton Rogue, Louisiana), the publisher of The Advocate newspaper, has broken ground on its new printing plant in Baton Rogue, Louisiana. The 120,000 square foot plant will replace its current facility and 1950s vintage letterpress presses on Bluebonnet Boulevard across from the Mall of Louisiana.

The new $40 million plant located on a 12.8-acre site off Siegen Lane between I-10 and SuperTarget, was designed by CSRS Architects of Baton Rogue and is being constructed by The Lemoine Company LLC of Lafayette, Louisiana. Also assisting in the project were consultants Austin AECOM and Sherick Consulting Company. The project is being financed by JP Morgan Chase/Bank One with a revolving line of credit.

Site preparation began in June and construction is expected to be completed in the fall of 2006. The new $2.9 million press is expected to arrive on April 23, 2006. A new seven-tower MAN Roland press will replace two, twelve unit presses which use outdated rubber-stamp technology. The new press will print three times faster and with more color. It will also reduce production cost by printing a smaller paper resulting in lower costs on paper, ink, and other supplies. The new press will move from a 55-inch web to a 50-inch web, which is currently the standard that advertisers are accustomed to. During the transition period, expected to last about four months, both presses will be used, with some sections of the newspaper being printed in the new press and other on the old ones.

The Advocate will also be relocating its administrative, editorial, classified, advertising, and supporting departments from current downtown offices to a location on Bluebonnet Boulevard. This move will occur in phases beginning on eptember 9th.

The Advocate is a morning newspaper published Monday through Friday since 1925, and includes SATURDAY, published each Saturday morning and the Sunday Advocate. The newspaper is owned by Capital City Press, founded in 1909 by Charles P. Manship Sr. and James Edmonds. Manship purchased his partner's interest in 1912, and today the publishing company is owned and operated by the founder's four grandchildren. As of 2004, The Advocate had a daily circulation of 97,920, and the Sunday Advocate a circulation of 123,759.

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