DETROIT LAKES — After more than 50 years on Washington Avenue, the Detroit Lakes Tribune has moved to a new location.
The newspaper’s offices are now located inside the Forum Communications Printing building in Detroit Lakes, at 1030 15th Avenue – at the eastern end of the city’s industrial park.
Tribune staff moved over to their new home on Friday, April 1.
The Tribune and Forum Communications Printing are both owned by Forum Communications Company, which is headquartered in Fargo.
Combining the local newspaper offices with the printing offices brings the media company’s two Detroit Lakes properties together under one roof — an economically responsible move that makes the best use of the facility’s available office space and also makes communications between the printing plant and the newspaper easier and more efficient.
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Tribune customers and other visitors can use the same main entrance at the front of the building as printing plant customers. The front desk is staffed by Tribune employees to serve Tribune customers, and printing staff remains on hand to serve printing customers.
Just behind and to the right of the front desk is the Tribune’s new office space, on the east side of the building; the west side houses the printing division’s office staff. The printing presses and printing operation itself are located on the north end of the building, separate from the offices.
The space is clean, bright and welcoming for employees and customers.
“I am excited to be joining our commercial print division in their beautiful building. It’s a natural fit for us and one that makes sense as our business model evolves,” said Tribune Publisher Melissa Swenson. “Plus, it will be exciting to see our publications as they are coming off the press — further connecting us to the process from start to finish.”
Tribune signage will be added to the building in the near future to denote the facility’s new shared use.
“We know it won’t be as handy for our walk-in customers, but we are still relatively easy to find,” Swenson said. “Our foot traffic has slowed down considerably over the years, so location isn’t as important as it used to be.”
The Tribune’s Washington Avenue building was put up for sale before the pandemic hit, as the newspaper began looking to downsize from the large 11,000-square-foot-plus building. An interested buyer has signed a purchase agreement on the property and is expected to take ownership sometime in the next month or two.
The newspaper had been at its former address since 1969.
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“There was a lot of history recorded in our Washington Avenue location,” said Swenson. “I look forward to continuing that tradition in our new location.”
