Green Bay Press-Gazette to relocate office to Rail Yard in the Broadway District

Jeff Bollier, Green Bay Press-Gazette
Updated ·4 min read

GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Press-Gazette will be moving to a new office location after a century in its current, downtown home.

Staff this month will relocate to an office suite at 520 N. Broadway, in the Rail Yard Innovation District. Newsroom, sales center and advertising staff will operate out of the new space by the end of April. Newspaper distribution operations will move to an industrial space.

Since 1924, the Press-Gazette has been based at 435 E. Walnut St., a Gothic revival style building purpose-built for the newspaper. The Press-Gazette, created in 1915 by the combination of the Gazette and the Free Press, originally operated out of an office at 315-317 Cherry St., a site now occupied by Associated Bank.

The Press-Gazette will continue to cover the Green Bay area, attract talent and remain based in Green Bay's revitalizing central city, said Peter Frank, editor of the Press-Gazette.

"The Press-Gazette remains committed to covering the community," Frank said. "It was important to remain downtown and find the right space for our news, advertising and sales center staffs. The Rail Yard is a vibrant and growing area, and we are pleased to be joining other companies that call it home."

The Green Bay Press-Gazette office at 435 E. Walnut St. pictured in the 1940s before the third-floor addition.
The Green Bay Press-Gazette office at 435 E. Walnut St. pictured in the 1940s before the third-floor addition.

Green Bay-based journalists remain focused on community

The Press-Gazette office building opened in August 1924 and its completion drew an estimated 6,000 residents to tour the new, then-state-of-the-art newspaper offices. Gov. John J. Blaine was one of the first to tour the new building, according to reports at the time.

The Press-Gazette added to the building in 1937, 1955 and 1969, to bring it to the current 86,400 square feet of office and distribution space. It is considered a contributing building to the Green Bay Downtown Historic District added to the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places in 2018.

"It will be sad to be leave the historic Press-Gazette building, but it will not affect our news-gathering efforts," Frank said. "Our journalists live and work in the greater Green Bay community and will continue to do so."

The Press-Gazette building sold in 2017

The Press-Gazette became a tenant in its longtime home in spring 2017 when Gannett sold the Press-Gazette, Oshkosh Northwestern and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel buildings to ProVisions LLC, a Michigan-based development firm led by Murray Wikol.

The Oshkosh Northwestern building in 2021 was subsequently sold to Oshkosh native T.J. Rodgers. The Journal-Sentinel building was converted into high-end apartments that opened in 2022 along with a mix of commercial uses.

'The Green Bay Packers would not have survived without the Green Bay Press-Gazette'

The Press-Gazette would make a major impact on Green Bay five years before it moved into its new building on Walnut Street.

On Aug. 11, 1919, a group met in the second-floor editorial offices of the Press-Gazette building on Cherry Street to organize a local football team. It would be another two days, Aug. 13, 1919, before the newspaper revealed the Indian Packing Co. would sponsor the team, that it would be called the "Packers," and that home games would be played at Hagemeister Park. The paper also published a list of 38 prospective players for the team.

"It will be the strongest aggregation of pigskin chasers that has ever been gathered together in this city," the Press-Gazette proclaimed.

A second meeting, on Aug. 14, 1919, would see more than two dozen players attend. Curly Lambeau was elected captain of the team, and George Whitney Calhoun the manager.

The newspaper for decades would promote the team and the sport in Green Bay. The Press-Gazette would help run the Packers, in essence, for decades. The newspaper's offices served as the Packers' offices for years. Fans could purchase tickets at the Press-Gazette offices. When the Packers periodically faced financial struggles, the Press-Gazette would help muster community support to sustain the team.

"The Green Bay Packers would not have survived without the Green Bay Press-Gazette, no question," said Cliff Christl, noted Packers historian and former Press-Gazette sports reporter, in a video interview.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette's fleet of delivery vehicles parked in the 435 E. Walnut St. building lot with the Brown County Courthouse and Green Bay City Hall to the right in 1965.
The Green Bay Press-Gazette's fleet of delivery vehicles parked in the 435 E. Walnut St. building lot with the Brown County Courthouse and Green Bay City Hall to the right in 1965.

How do I contact the Press-Gazette staff with my question, news tip, complaint or advertising inquiry?

You can still reach the Press-Gazette staff by phone, email or social media the same way you do today. To find the staff member you want to contact, visit the Press-Gazette's Contact Us page. You can also send mail to us at Green Bay Press-Gazette, PO.. Box 23430, Green Bay, WI 54305

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Press-Gazette moves to new office in Broadway District