MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) Talk to former Press Register Editor Mike Marshall about his paper's headquarters, and you might think you're talking to a realtor, not a newspaper editorial writer.
"It's gorgeous," said Marshall, "the views, especially form the news room on the third floor are spectacular. It's very comfortable, ideally suited for an office place."
After slashing its staff and scaling back printing to only three days a week, there is more change in the wind at the Mobile Press Register.
"One hundred journalists moved into the newsroom upstairs," he said. "We're now down to 45 journalists."
That's enough to cover their conversion to digital, online publishing as part of AL.com. But not enough to make this massive building practical.
So Tuesday, the paper's owners announced the Press Register building is up for sale.
And when it's sold, the 45 member news staff and all the other employees will have to find a new place to call home.
Marshall said they'd like to move back into the heart of downtown where the action is; possibly near Bienville Square, which, ironically is only a few blocks from where they moved from, 10 years ago.
"Although we're still downtown like we were on Government Street, we still don't enjoy the foot traffic we enjoyed back on Government St.," said Marshall. "So we're thinking we may be better off over in Bienville Square. We're thinking we may want to do more community outreach and want people to be able to drop by and talk."
The paper plans to lease that space back from the new owner, which they believe will make the property even more attractive.
