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Can you top this? Daily News’ new headquarters reaches milestone
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Naples Daily News building
The topping off for the Naples Daily News building happened on Tuesday afternoon Sept. 2.
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NAPLES — The new headquarters for the Naples Daily News has reached a milestone.
As a Bowman crane steered a white beam filled with signatures toward the front of the building Tuesday afternoon, employees looked on intently.
They were there for a “topping-off” celebration, recognizing the placement of the last — and highest — beam for the project.
Many decided to leave their mark by signing the beam, though it won’t be visible when the project is complete.
“Look at all those signatures on that thing. It’s really cool,” said Todd Gates, chairman of GATES, the project’s general contractor.
He guessed there were at least 150 signatures.
When the beam, carrying a symbolic cedar tree and an American flag, landed squarely in its place, Gates caught his breath.
“Now I can relax,” he said.
But he won’t relax for long.
“We still have a long ways to go. But the structure itself has reached its highest point and it has reached it safely. It has reached it successfully. It has reached it efficiently,” Gates said.
GATES broke ground on the 186,503-square-foot building in March.
Situated on 18 acres off Immokalee Road near U.S. 41 N., the headquarters is expected to be completed by next summer. It will replace the Daily News’ current site on Central Avenue in Naples.
The E.W. Scripps Co., the parent company of the Daily News, is spending about $95 million on the project, including the land, building and equipment.
It comes as newspapers everywhere are struggling to survive a digital revolution and a slow economy.
“We are very lucky that Scripps is making this investment right now,” Daily News Publisher Chris Doyle said.
As part of Tuesday’s celebration, Doyle and other employees toured the site in hard hats.
They saw where the front lobby will be and where the newspaper’s departments will go — from editorial and marketing to advertising and circulation.
They got a peek of where the new state-of-the-art printing plant will go. It will be nearly five stories tall, with room for growth.
The inside of the building looked like a big, wet sand box. It will be "dried in," or enclosed, by Nov. 15, said Tom Sewall, the Daily News’ operations director who gave the tour.
The next big milestone will come early next year when the printing press arrives.
“There will be over 100 trucks coming to deliver this press,” Sewall said. “Once they start coming, they don’t stop.”
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Congratulations NDN Team ! You're the very best!
#1 Posted by pn on September 2, 2008 at 8:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
WOW - Will this be the lead story on tomorrow's paper?
#2 Posted by longtimeneapolitan on September 2, 2008 at 8:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
As newspapers are going digital they are building a new facility with expansion capabilities for print. Does anyone realize this is a vacation town still and 6 months out of the year the population dwindles? Are you sure politicians are not involved in this one??
#3 Posted by theabyss on September 2, 2008 at 8:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
GOOD WORK FORGE ENGINEERING
#4 Posted by sisi123 on September 2, 2008 at 10:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I liked the question in the headline I will attempt to answer it. No, it is over my head.
Ask a silly question...
#5 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on September 2, 2008 at 10:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
blasted, I am truly shocked..the NDN actually has employees..I thought they were mostly Craigslist hackers/bloggers or history majors...from 1AA schools...I stand in shock..
#6 Posted by Trexler on September 2, 2008 at 11:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Truly untopable (is that even a word? XD)
@BTV, LOL
#7 Posted by Elle on September 3, 2008 at 12:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This sort of reminds me of the old saying about how you can always try to shine a turd, but it's still a turd....
#8 Posted by argument on September 3, 2008 at 1:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
All you people who complain about NDN, you are still here reading it so it can't be all that bad. Is your own life so dull or painful that all you can do is complain about everything anymore? Get a hobby or something.
#9 Posted by 3i3am3 on September 3, 2008 at 8:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Putting lipstick on a pig.
#10 Posted by trehuger on September 3, 2008 at 9:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
#12 3i3am3: I agree with you. However, I like to rag on NDN now and then. They lead with their chin often, but they do have more local news. Some of the reporting gets an interesting spin, some is parroted from whatever PIO sends out a press release and some is straight up.
I really get tired of the coverage of all things Lee County in TV news. I am not fond of seeing too much Lee news here either, but understand that Bonita Springs and other parts of S. Lee have a pretty big influence on this area and many residents who live there work here and visa versa.
#11 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on September 3, 2008 at 9:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Does this mean higher ad prices?
#12 Posted by volpesjr on September 3, 2008 at 10:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think the local coverage is the very reason most of us read this paper in the first place. It is really the only source for most local news.
I don't always care for how NDN writes it's articles as they can often be biased in nature. I also wished they would be more willing to conduct some investigative reporting. Lord only knows there are any number of things going on around here that should be exposed but for some reason the NDN takes a hands off policy in most cases.
On the bright side the NDN does at least provide pretty wide coverage on what is going on around the area, much more so than the other news outlets.
I also have to give the kudos on their website. I read a number of newspaper websites most days and I have to admit that this site is one of the best newspaper websites out there. The two things I like about it best are that the keep it updated almost around the clock. Many other do not do that. I also appreciate the chance for all of us to be able to make these silly comments. That includes the occasional ragging on the NDN.
#13 Posted by swfl_ff on September 3, 2008 at 11:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
#10 and #12 - Our other choices are what, exactly? I don't pay the NDN a cent - I log into this free website, read what little information is there that's useful to anybody, and log out. The point of my comment (as others clearly seem to have understood) is the NDN can write self-aggrandizing stories that ballyhoo its new building on Immokalee Road, and the paper can quote its talking heads about how awesome it is and how it's such a wonderful investment by its parent company, but that has JACK SQUAT to do with the newspaper's content.
Until the paper gets real reporters and devotes resources to real reporting, it's basically a glorified shopper. The only difference is a shopper doesn't pretend to practice real journalism while failing at it.
#14 Posted by argument on September 3, 2008 at 12:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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