Goodbye, Journal Sentinel Printing Plant

In the late nineties, the inexorable decline of the print journalism era accelerated, as readers and advertisers flocked to the internet. In a curious contrarian move, executives of Journal Communications, Inc., seeing a promise in pulp, budgeted $107 million for a new printing plant. Cash flow and increased efficiencies would pay for the new facility — no bank financing required.

It was to be the largest capital investment in the firm’s long history as Wisconsin’s largest locally owned media entity. The company was a pioneering and leading force in the state’s newspaper, radio and television industries. The Internet — not so much.

Since 1924, The Milwaukee Journal had been printed in the firm’s downtown headquarters at 333 W. State St. The purchase of the Milwaukee Sentinel added to the press run in 1961; the two papers merged in 1995. By that time the printing plant was notoriously inefficient and labor-intensive, hindered not least by its basement location and congested site. The printing presses themselves dated to the 1960s and were obsolete. For decades trucks delivering huge rolls of newsprint from a Brewers Hill warehouse were frequent ornaments, and occasional impediments, to downtown traffic.  It was time to make a move. Surely, the printed power of the press would pay off!

A Brownfield Reclaimed

In 1999 the company bought a 40-acre vacant site at 4101 W. Burnham St. in the Village of West Milwaukee. The location, on the western border of the city of Milwaukee, once housed the adjacent Inryco (formerly Inland Steel) and Babcock & Wilcox factories. The firms were vintage Milwaukee “metal benders” operating there from about 1900 to 1987, polluting their plots with Gilded Age impunity. Babcock & Wilcox cleared the site of PCBs in 1984-87, but questions of liability left it undeveloped until 1997, when it entered the DNR’s Brownfields Environmental Assessment Program (BEAP). This enabled the eventual transfer of the parcel without liability concerns on the part of new owners. A developer bought the entire 46 acres, installing his business in a portion, and selling about 3 acres to the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission, which built its facility there, leaving the remaining parcel for acquisition by the Journal Sentinel.

The newspaper executives travelled to Germany to select the world’s most advanced printing presses, choosing products from Koenig & Bauer. Speed and automation were primary considerations. The new presses were 5-stories high, 350-feet long, “shaftless” (driven by electric motors, not gears) and capable of printing 85,000 copies per hour, versus the 50,000 of their downtown predecessors. They were housed in a 448,750-square foot building, along with necessary auxiliary functions, such as newspaper distribution, rail access, and ample loading docks, all on one level. There was storage for the giant cylinders of paper, over five feet in diameter and weighing more than a ton apiece. Advanced automated trolleys would deliver the rolls to the presses when they were in need of replenishing, instead of the old-fashioned human power.

Was Seen as Revenue Source

From the start, the company looked to use its new presses as a job printer would — printing advertising inserts and other publishers’ papers. In 2003, when the plant opened, the press run for the Journal Sentinel would occupy less than three hours use per day (that dropped to less than an hour by 2021, due to plummeting circulation). Keith Spore, then publisher, estimated revenues from the outside contracts to be $4-5 million annually.

According to the company’s LinkedIn account, which appears to date to that time:

The Journal Sentinel publishes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel daily and Sunday newspapers and produces one of the most popular destinations for Milwaukee Internet users – JSOnline.com. Journal Sentinel is committed to producing a newspaper that reflects the ever-changing world and fulfills the needs of readers and advertisers. A new production facility with state-of-the-art printing equipment, which became operational in early 2003, will help ensure the continued reliability and growth of Wisconsin’s largest newspaper in the 21st century.

In 2006 the production facility secured a five-year contract to print the regional edition of USA Today for the Gannett Company, later joined by other publications like the Sheboygan Press. By 2015, Gannett had purchased Journal Communications, solidifying its ownership of nearly every daily newspaper in the state, some with obsolete printing facilities of their own. In 2017 Gannett shut down its Wausau printing plant, moving operations to West Milwaukee. In 2018 the Appleton plant was shuttered, with work also sent to W. Burnham St. Ultimately, eleven Gannett papers were printed there.

On Monday, it was announced that the West Milwaukee production facility would also close, leaving perhaps 180 employees looking for work, and the automated paper dolly trucks idle. Printing for the Journal Sentinel and its 10 other state newspapers will now be done at Gannett’s Peoria Journal Star plant, some 3-1/2 hours south of West Milwaukee by truck. It appears distribution will still take place at the West Milwaukee plant, yet the firm has not announced plans for the facility. Don’t be surprised if it is listed for sale. Gannett has not been reticent to sell the real estate holdings of its corporate trophies. The Journal headquarters on W. State St., sold in 2019, is being redeveloped as housing. Gannett has also sold properties in Marshfield, Wausau, and Stevens Point.

Provides Significant Tax Base for Small Community

The 1.13-square mile Village of West Milwaukee (pop. 4,206), incorporated in 1906, is the smallest in area of Milwaukee County’s 19 municipalities, and the second smallest in population after affluent River Hills, its polar opposite. Whereas the leafy North Shore bedroom community has absolutely no manufacturing within its borders, West Milwaukee was a classic industrial suburb, like its south side counterparts Cudahy and South Milwaukee, or its neighbor, West Allis, only more so. For decades West Milwaukee had the lowest property tax rate in the county, but when manufacturing equipment was exempted from state taxation in the 1970s, the situation was reversed, and the village has since had the county’s highest property taxes. These are borne by the 843 residential parcels located on 91 acres ($96 million in assessed value), the 250 acres of commercial properties ($206 million) and the 205 acres of manufacturing property, assessed by the state, and valued at $43 million. (2020 numbers). Net new construction in 2021 amounted to only $619,000 of the community’s now $371,839,600 tax base, also the lowest of any county municipality.

The Journal Sentinel Production Facility is assessed at $2,204,500 for the site, and $10,371,500 for the plant, for a total assessed valuation of $12,576,000, representing about 30% of the community’s manufacturing tax base. (The assessment was over $16 million in 2016). The 2021 tax bill was $354,220.80. Payments are current on the installment plan.  It remains to be seen whether this complex and specialized facility will remain assessed at this level once its primary purpose has been eliminated. In addition, there remains a number of undeveloped acres on the parcel.

The Bottom Line

• Name of Property: Journal Sentinel Production Facility
• Address: 4101 W. Burnham St., Village of West Milwaukee
• Assessed Valuation 2021: The 1,734,036-square-foot (39.808 acre) lot is assessed at $2,204,500 ($1.27/s.f.) and the 448,750-square-foot finished building improvements are valued at $10,371,500 for a total assessed valuation of $12,576,000.
• Taxes: 2021 Tax Bill $354,220.80. Payments current on the installment plan.
• Owner: Journal Sentinel, Inc. c/0 Gannett Tax Department, McLean, Virginia
• Zoning: M-2 general manufacturing district
• Type: Printing and Distribution Plant
• Architect: Could not be immediately determined
• Year Built: c.2002-3
• Neighborhood: N/A
• Subdivision: N/A
• Aldermanic District: None. The Village of West Milwaukee has six trustees who serve at large
• Walk Score: 67 out of 100; “Somewhat Walkable” Some errands can be accomplished on foot. Village average: 61 out of 100
• Transit Score: 46 out of 100; “Some Transit” A few nearby public transportation options. Village average: Could not be determined
• Bike Score: 47 out of 100; “Somewhat Bikeable” Minimal bicycle infrastructure. Plus some giant blocks to conquer
• Brownfield Remediation Success Story Brochure [pdf]
• You Tube Watch Press in Action

How Milwaukee Is It? The property is about 5.5 miles southwest of City Hall