The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Colo., will build a $35 million, 80,000-square-foot production plant to house new production equipment and administrative and editorial offices.

Bud Winslow, The Daily Sentinel’s operations director, said the paper hasn’t yet selected press, computer-to-plate or postproduction vendors, but will make those decisions within the next two months.

The paper is also evaluating which architectural firm it will hire to oversee the plant’s construction, Winslow said.

Winslow told Newspapers & Technology that Daily Sentinel execs are leaning toward purchasing a singlewide press to replace the paper’s current doublewide machine, which was commissioned in 1984.

The press will also likely sport a 21-inch cutoff “because of production issues with inserting and packaging,” Winslow said, rejecting the notion that The Daily Sentinel would convert to a Berliner-size format.

“We are trying to make the ROI work for the whole facility and we believe 21-inch will be a better fit.”

The new machine will also enable additional color printing.

“We’re having a difficult time accommodating color requests,” Winslow said. “With the new press, we’ll be able to print color on every page.”

Thinner format

The broadsheet Daily Sentinel is now produced with a 22-inch cutoff and a 50-inch web width. The paper will be trimmed to a 46-inch, and possibly a 44-inch web once the new facility is operational in 2010.

The Cox Newspapers Inc.-owned Daily Sentinel has been evaluating the construction of new facilities for years and came close to announcing a deal in 2006 before postponing the project.

In addition to the new press, The Daily Sentinel will beef up its postproduction. The current Muller Martini Mailroom Systems Inc. SLS-1000 anchoring its existing postpress “isn’t big enough for us any longer,” Winslow said, citing growing insert demands.

The Daily Sentinel’s bolstered production foundation will allow the paper to compete for commercial printing that’s now flowing to other western Colorado towns.

“Western Colorado is a thriving market,” Winslow said, pointing to the area’s energy boom. “We can’t provide the color or the postpress now, but with the new equipment we’ll be able to get this business.”

The Daily Sentinel’s new facility will replace the paper’s cramped downtown offices, which were rebuilt following a 1974 fire.

“The building is too old and it has problems throughout,” Winslow said. “It will be nice to be in a better place.”