The News-Star in Monroe, La., is replacing its 56-year-old letterpress with a rebuilt 19-unit Goss Urbanite press in a project slated for completion in November.

Pressline Services Inc. is managing the project and is installing the Urbanite press, which will include two folders, four 4-over-4 color stacks and three mono units.

The remanufactured press will also include shaftless drives, remote circumferential and sidelay controls, a new inking system, spraybar dampeners from technotrans and a single-width QE control console from Rockwell Automation.

Pressline is assembling the machine from press units it has previously acquired from other newspapers.

Boost color

Doug Nobles, The News-Star’s production director, said the retrofit will enable the paper to print 56 pages, 32 in color. The press can also be split into two, one 24-16 and the other 32-16 collect.

“Having the capability of splitting the press and running as two separate presses opens the door to new commercial printing ventures,” he said. “The project will allow us to present to our readers and advertisers an excellent upgrade from the letterpress reproduction they have been receiving.”

The News-Star (daily, 34,570; Sunday, 39,055) is constructing a 7,500-square-foot addition to its downtown facility to house the press. The new press hall will also house the paper’s first quiet room as well as its first ink delivery system. Currently, operators must manually deliver ink to the 8-unit Goss letterpress.

More than rebuild

“This is so much more than a rebuild project,” Nobles said. “The approach we are taking is to transform the (Urbanite) into a state-of-the-art piece of equipment.” The only part of the press that won’t be changed, he said, is its frames.

The News-Star will trim its web width from 54 inches to 48 inches with the commissioning of the new press. The daily is also evaluating switching to 27.7-pound newsprint.

In addition to the press, The News-Star will migrate to computer-to-plate. A decision on a CTP vendor will come within the next few months, Nobles said.