GV Wire has learned that the city of Fresno plans to demolish the massive Fresno Bee building that formerly housed the storied paper’s news operation, printing press, and distribution headquarters.

Councilmember Miguel Arias confirmed to GV Wire on Thursday that the city wants to demolish the 220,000-square-foot building at 1626 E St. Following a “catastrophic failure” of the building’s air conditioning and boiler system, it could no longer serve as office space.

The city purchased the 14.8-acre property in 2020 for $5.75 million. At the time of the sale, the McClatchy pension fund owned the building.

Arias said it could cost $1 million to $2 million to demolish the building.

“The city administration concluded that the recent failure of the air conditioning and boiler system that provides climate control to the massive facility had a catastrophic failure,” Arias said. “In order to repair or replace that huge infrastructure, it would be significantly costly to the city.”

Councilmembers on Thursday decided to cancel a $2.6 million contract to repave the parking lot in light of plans to demolish the building.

City Purchased Fresno Bee Building for Public Utilities

Under McClatchy, the three-story building was built to house The Fresno Bee in 1975 as part of a redevelopment effort in west Fresno. From the bottom floor, copies of the newspaper were printed  for distribution throughout the San Joaquin Valley while journalists and editors produced news stories on the second floor.

At the height of the newspaper’s domination of the local media market, The Bee purchased the Gottschalks distribution center building next door at 1550 E Street. Following a multimillion dollar remodel, the adjacent property became the home of Restaurant Depot in 2015.

In 2020, McClatchy briefly moved its operations out of its E Street plant and into the Bitwise 41 building, where the paper’s marquee could be seen from Highway 41. But even before the tech company went bankrupt, Bee reporters and editors began to work remotely.

When the city purchased the building, officials said the facility would consolidate office space and warehousing for multiple departments, including the public utilities department. A city staff member told GV Wire the city knew at the time of purchase that the air conditioning was near the end of its life.

An environmental review was included during the escrow process, according to staff reports in 2020.

Demolishing the Bee building will require another environmental review given the building’s industrial use and age. Any asbestos or lead would have to be mitigated before demolition, Arias said. Arias added that the city did some mitigation work when it took over the building.

“Remember that the building was a heavy industrial building with a massive print shop, although we mitigated some of that,” Arias said.

The city will put out a request for demolition bids in the next 30 to 60 days, Arias said.

Arias Fears Fire Danger. City Says Regular Police Presence There, 24/7 Security

A structure fire at the city-owned former Carl’s Jr. at McKinley and Blackstone avenues spurred a discussion about safety for the Bee building.

Arias said that not only would a fire at that building be a “10-alarm” fire, but it would also be a environmental hazard.

“I’m just concerned that if that building gets set on fire, that’s probably a 10-alarm fire that will require every fire engine in the Valley to respond to,” Arias said. “Historically, it had a big print shop and industrial use. I want to avoid that level of contamination.”

Arias said he wanted to increase security at the building.

Currently, the building is staffed 24 hours a day with one security guard who does patrols every 30 minutes, said Paul Amico, director of the Department of Public Works. A recent break-in led to increased patrols. They have to keep the building energized for the fire protection system and the pump.

Additionally, the Fresno Police Department uses the parking lot to write reports, and police and fire units have used the building for training, Amico said.

“There is a (police department presence) around the Bee building property,” Amico said.

The original Bee building built in 1922 on Van Ness later housed the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, which closed in 2010 after it couldn’t meet its financial obligations following a $28 million renovation. That building has housed the Community Media Access Collaborative since 2012.