Gazette moves to new home in downtown Stevens Point

The Gazette finally has a new home.
We made the move Thursday, July 8, hours after sending the Friday, July 9, edition to press, and months after finding our new location at 1024 Main St., downtown Stevens Point.
Most of the physical move was completed in hours. Gazette owners and employees were on hand to move computers, files, office supplies, books, old papers and other things from 2800 Church St. to the new location. They worked hard, and because of their efforts and teamwork, it was smooth.
I wish I could say I was there for the bulk of it, but I was in Marshfield, getting braces put on my teeth. I was keeping an appointment I had made two months ago, long before I knew the date of the move.
When I made the appointment, for a Thursday on my day off, I knew we’d be moving on a Thursday sometime during the summer, hopefully, but picking which Thursday was an impossibility. A lot needed to be done prior to the move, and making it happen would require full-work on somebody’s behalf.
Fortunately, former managing editor Gene Kemmeter, one of the founders of The Gazette, retired on June 1. Without the day-to-day responsibility of running the news department, Gene now had the time to devote himself to making sure the move could happen. With help from the other owners, including Norb Tepp, Jim Schuh and Gary Glennon, he worked tirelessly to piece together all the puzzle pieces that needed to be put together to build the road we needed to take to come downtown.
We first became interested in the downtown location in January, after touring the facility, which was once occupied by Pro-Logic. In its history it was the longtime location of the Sports Shop, as well as the distribution center of Point Sporting Goods.
Pro-Logic used a lot of computers, and because it did, the building was networked perfectly for our computer needs. It also had more office space than we had at our old location, something we knew we needed if we were to continue growing.
Regardless of which area has the highest traffic count in Stevens Point – whether it’s downtown, Division Street near the campus, the east side along Highway 10, the south side or the business park next to Crossroads Commons in Plover – downtown Stevens Point is the heart and soul of this community, and it was where The Gazette needed to be.
Settling into our new digs on Friday, and getting back to business, we learned the move hadn’t gone quite as smoothly as we thought it had. Our computer server wasn't hooked up right. The problem took a little time to fix – thank God Computer Magic was able to fix a problem they did not create – and after that was resolved, we learned our e-mail wasn’t fully functional, either.
By Monday, that problem was fixed, and since then the staff has been learning the intricacies of the new place, including a new phone system that has, get this, caller ID and voice mail. Welcome to the 20th century, Gazette.
If you’re reading this when you normally would read this, hopefully on a Friday after you get the paper in the mail, then the move can be considered a success, as we were able to get the paper to press on time, once again, as we have for the past 11 years. If not, blame the weather.
Don’t be afraid to stop in and visit us at our new home. We’re open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Our phone number is still (715) 343-8045, and if you want to e-mail us, send it to me at pcgazette@g2a.net.