The Chronicle will soon have a new home for the first time since 1947.
Movers won’t rack up much mileage. The new office is exactly one block away from the newspaper’s current downtown Centralia location.
CT Publishing owners Coralee and Chad Taylor purchased the former Umpqua Bank building at 215 N. Pearl St. in Centralia after the city put it back on the market earlier this year.
The Chronicle’s current office, located at 321 N. Pearl St, is currently on the market. The building is owned by former Chronicle owner Jenifer Lafromboise Falcon and rented by the Taylors.
CT Publishing purchased the new building at 215 N. Pearl St. for $650,000 on June 17 after the City of Centralia put it up for sale following 17 months of vacancy. The building, which was purchased by the city in 2023 to operate its municipal court, will undergo significant repairs, including roofing, heating, air conditioning, ventilation, lighting, internal office spaces, bathroom renovations and more. The owners hope to have the building ready for operation by the end of the summer.
“We thought it was important to try to keep The Chronicle in Centralia since it’s been here for well over 100 years. This being downtown and around the same location is a huge benefit,” Chad Taylor, publisher of CT Publishing, said. “This community really supports this paper and supports hyperlocal media.”
This new building will be The Chronicle’s third home since 1920. The newspaper was originally the Centralia News, which later turned into the Centralia Chronicle. Operations moved into 314 N. Tower Ave. in 1920 before relocating to 321 N. Pearl St. in 1947.
During their search for a new home, the Taylors looked for a place that would not only house its growing staff and readership but would also be a permanent base.
“Everybody that works for us is super important to us. We have an incredible team,” Coralee Taylor, CEO of CT Publishing, said.
“It gave us a chance to continue to grow because the paper is growing. We’re adding more employees, so we’re constantly needing more space,” Chad Taylor added. “We wanted the ability to create an environment where all the employees could grow and feel good about coming to work every day.”
The Centralia City Council voted May 12 to put the former bank building on the market, with staff setting an internal value of about $950,000 for the property. Councilors cited rising repair costs and weather impacts on the building as their primary reasons for placing the building on the market.
For more information on the new building and the council’s decision, read previous Chronicle reporting at https://tinyurl.com/yeyvryde.
