New K.C. 'Star' Plant Going Up Downtown

By: Jim Rosenberg In about two months, The Kansas City (Mo.) Star hopes to break ground on a $199-million production plant occupying three acres on two city blocks next to its current downtown headquarters. Its planned start-up in early 2006 will see the country's last large letterpress shop shuttered.

In fact, letterpress gave way to lithography in the 1970s, when the four 10-unit Hoe Colormatic presses -- the oldest one dating from 1964 -- were converted to di-litho. Little more than a transitional strategy for most of its users, printing directly from litho plates was superceded in the 1980s by a PMC conversion that added blanket cylinders. So, for much of the past 20 years, the Star has been printed offset on the twice-converted letterpress machines.

At the new plant, editions will roll off tower presses from one of two unnamed manufacturers now in final negotiations with the Knight Ridder daily, circulation 266,264 weekdays, 379,664 Sunday.

"We need four presses," said Production Vice President Randy Waters. "We're looking for 80-page capacity, with 40 pages of process color" to produce a six-section newspaper from 50-inch-wide webs. Beyond that, he added, "we're looking to take advantage of split production," using a double folder to run two products.

The Star anticipates printing more color on news pages and in ads, and will be able to produce more pages in more sections. If its cost can be justified, computer-to-plate (CTP) output will be part of the modernization, Waters said. Though still concerned about the cost of consumables, he said the trend is positive and "the plan is to go to CTP," with back-up for conventional plate production from page films. Waters is confident about the success of digitally driven, direct output of laser-imaged plates, but believes CTP requires further study. "We think it brings value," he said.

Four stories at one end, the structure's press hall will rise about twice that high at the other. In all, the building will enclose 430,000 square feet, and accommodate 400 employees. Largely encased in glass, it will permit occupants of neighboring buildings and passing vehicles to see production operations. The in-city plant's configuration is such that "we'll have to go up for storage rather than out ," said Waters.

For incoming materials, the Star will deploy automated storage and retrieval to efficiently exploit high-rise storage -- one system (with back-up configuration) serving both newsprint and inserts. "It's just the bay size and configuration that are different," said Waters, "But the same crane will be able to handle both products."

For outgoing products, "we're going to online palletization for paper delivery," said Waters, explaining that automation will be the big difference for pallet-loaded bundles that are trucked to distribution centers. The alternative was automated cart loading -- in place at many sites, including the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News and planned for Detroit Newspapers' expanded North Plant. "We left that decision up to our carrier force, and they liked pallets," said Waters.

Limited packaging and distribution may be possible some time after the building is completed, which is expected in early 2005, followed by erection of the first press, according to the Star.

The investment by Knight Ridder was seen by local leaders as a boost to city redevelopment. The paper quoted Mayor Kay Barnes saying the project "demonstrates confidence in downtown and will be a catalyst for other development." President and Publisher Arthur S. Brisbane told employees that it would have been cheaper and easier to build on an undeveloped suburban parcel. But the Star, reporter Kevin Collison wrote, has urged that incentives be used to revive parts of the city rather than to pull development out of the city.

"We've been supportive of a number of tax-increment financing and other abatement programs," Brisbane said. So it's no surprise the newspaper is looking for enterprise-zone and city tax incentives (approximately $19 million over 10 years) owing to the higher in-city costs.

Though the plant is one of the biggest recent downtown development investments, the Star newsroom is undertaking its own major contribution. Begun last week, an in-depth, six-Sunday series looks at the larger picture, exploring the downtown's decline, measures to revive it, similar efforts elsewhere, and how the urban core's condition affects the entire metropolitan area.

Collison, teamed with Jeffrey Spivak, said their series was independent of their paper's plant project and "had been in planning for a long time."