John Gottschalk Freedom Center | |
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General information | |
Type | Production facility |
Architectural style | Modern |
Location | Omaha, Nebraska |
Completed | August 31, 2001 |
Design and construction | |
Owner | Omaha World-Herald |
Architect | HDR, Inc. |
The John Gottschalk Freedom Center is a newspaper production facility located at 14th Street and Capitol Avenue in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska. Built for the Omaha World-Herald, the building is considered to be one of the most automated and technologically advanced newspaper facilities in the world.[1][2][3] The Freedom Center has been labeled a "catalyst" in the redevelopment of Downtown Omaha,[4][5] along with such other new downtown development as the opening of the Missouri riverfront, the First National Center, the Omaha Convention Center and Arena and the Gallup University campus.[6] The facility covers four blocks, and houses the new shaftless printing presses, material handling center, assembly equipment, and a parking garage.[7]
The facility was opened in August 2001, and cost almost $125 million to build.[8] It consists of three structures designed by HDR, Inc. They include a five-level, 321,000-square-foot (29,800 m2) press hall featuring 3 MAN Roland presses from Germany; a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) paper-storage facility capable of storing 3,000 rolls of newsprint and a 600-stall parking garage. Large portions of the exterior are glass, allowing downtown traffic to see the storage facility and presses.[9]
The storage facility/press hall is connected by a tunnel than runs underneath 13th Street. Most newspaper facilities of this size have been built on greenfield sites. The Omaha World-Herald was dedicated to keeping its newspaper facilities downtown, which required a more vertical structure, and the underground tunnel. Transfer Vehicle System (TVS) robotic vehicles are used to deliver newsprint to the press.[10][11]
The presses weigh 1,661 U.S. tons and can produce 75,000 newspapers per hour. The John Gottschalk Freedom Center produces four editions of the Omaha World-Herald daily, in addition to a Sunday edition and daily editions of the Daily NonPareil for neighboring Southwest Iowa.
Construction of the modern facility served as the impetus for redesigning the layout of the actual newspaper.[12]