On Thursday, community members will see our the building at 466 Yampa Avenue listed for sale and/or rent. It’s a bittersweet decision because our newspaper has occupied this building since 1920 when it first became the home of the Craig Courier. When the Craig Courier and the Craig Empire consolidated in 1923, the building was remodeled. And in 1935, 466 Yampa Ave, was again remodeled allowing the Empire Courier to be published at the location until 1982. It’s been a good home.

The reality is that we no longer need a 9,000 square-foot building. The Craig Press has full-time staff of six people and we’re looking to either share our space or sell the building and move into a location better suited for our size. Yes, it’s economics. Heating, cooling and caring for a building that sits mostly vacant is expensive, but it’s also a waste of space and resources.

We know that there will be those in the community who see the sale of the building as a sure sign that we are closing or moving out of town – just another step toward being obsolete. We view this decision as the opposite and instead a recognition that we don’t have the same luxuries in business as we did before the Great Recession and we have to make the choices that ensure we’ll be your local newspaper for decades to come. We trust that most of you understand the challenges of running a small business in rural Northwest Colorado and can appreciate our decision.

Ideally, we will find the perfect partner(s) to share our space and we’ll remain in this location for years to come. But we’re open to moving if that’s what makes the most sense long-term and that 100 years from now, we’re reflecting back on this from whatever community building houses our news team.

We hope that some of our readers will have great ideas about possible tenants to share our building our possible locations for our team if the building sells. We look forward to hearing from you.