New NAC building rising from the mud

WEST VALLEY CITY — The Newspaper Agency Corp.'s new press facility juts high into the western skyline, its alternating earth tones echoing the nearby mountains.

Nearly a year into construction, the $84 million project is slightly behind schedule but expected to meet its target completion date of spring 2006, said Alan Rindlisbacher, spokesman for Layton Construction Co. Layton is managing the project at the corner of 5600 West and 4700 South in the West Ridge Commerce Park.

The NAC handles production, distribution and advertising for the Deseret Morning News and Salt Lake Tribune. The separate and fiercely competitive news and editorial departments of the News and Tribune will remain in their respective office buildings in downtown Salt Lake City. The Morning News is on 100 South between State and Main streets. In April, the Tribune will move from its current Main Street building to the One Gateway office building, 90 S. 400 West.

The new press facility is "a stunning job," Rindlisbacher said at a media tour of the new NAC facility Thursday. "And it has been a mess this winter."

Crews have encountered underground rivers that had to be diverted, he said, and foul weather has left much of the 37-acre site a muddy mess.

But project engineer Jordan Larson said the project is still expected to be complete on schedule. Thursday morning, workers were fitting rebar to stabilize a 28-foot exterior wall, which will surround the facility and give the appearance of unity while blocking from view the more utilitarian functions of the place, such as the loading docks.

The 319,000-square-foot facility, with its geometric multi-color exterior, was designed by Massachusetts-based Dario Design to be viewed as a "pixilated mountain range," Rindlisbacher said. Huge portions of the building are painted sky blue, others olive and tan. The exterior wall will have an earth-tone brick veneer.

The easternmost section of the facility, which will be the NAC's ground-floor mailroom and docking area, is a muddy bog, Larson said. Workers have taken to calling it "Lake NAC." However, Larson said, "we're looking at some fixes" to dry the ground enough to lay concrete.

Meanwhile, work continues on the complex's north section, which will serve as administrative and office space. Workers may move into the office space as soon as October, Larson said.

Currently, 724 people work at the NAC.

At the heart of the new facility, the building stretches for hundreds of yards, reaching vertically more than 75 feet to house the three TKS Color Top 5000 presses scheduled to arrive this summer. Massive rolls of newspaper will be fed by state-of-the art machines from the ground floor to the presses one level above. The entire area was specially constructed to reduce vibration, noise and odor from the huge machines.

"This TKS press is a beta test site, the newest press that TKS has built," Rindlisbacher said. "It is the latest, most leading-edge press technology in the world."

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E-mail: jnii@desnews.com