TAKEAWAY: As The Miami Herald crew packed its bags and moved to a new location in the Miami suburbs, I find it difficult to say goodbye to the memories of One Herald Plaza.
The Miami Herald building: a landmark of the downtown Miami landscape
The newsroom of The Herald became the set of several movies and TV shows, among them the film Absence of Malice, starring Sally Field and Paul Newman
One Herald Plaza.
I will always remember it as the address of my first ever job in the newspaper business.
I was a 20-year-old intern in 1967 when I first set foot in that building, but I have fond memories of it, of the smell of ink on paper, the sounds of those printing presses, the long halls that stretched from one end of the building to the other, and the splendid view of the bay, the skyline of downtown Miami, and, in the distance, the south end of Miami Beach.
You see, I was an intern for the evening newspaper, The Miami News, which, at the time had a joint operating agreement with The Miami Herald, so the two dailies shared that building at One Herald Plaza.
My history with The Miami Herald building continued as I did other stints with The News, as well as with the sister Spanish language daily, el Nuevo Herald . And, in 2003, I returned as a consultant to redesign The Miami Herald under the leadership of then publisher Alberto Ibarguen.
Saying goodbye to a landmark of the city
This week, the staff of The Miami Herald moved to new digs in the suburbs, to start a new chapter in the life of this iconic newspaper that has reported on the pulse of one of the world’s most peripatetic cities since its founding in 1903.
The reason for the move is that The Herald’s corporate parent, the McClatchy Co., has sold its 13.9-acre bayside downtown Miami Herald property for $236 million to a group which had plans for a $3.8 billion destination resort with a casino. Because of increasing opposition—well reported by The Herald—the company has decided to scale down the project for now and will focus on a luxury hotel and two condominiums.
The new Herald building is supposed to be state of the art, and I have no doubt that, with time, the Herald staffers will get used to their new headquarters. But it will take a while, and for some, home will always be in that building downtown.
It’s funny how we process information. While I have must have visited hundreds of newsrooms in 110 countries, to me, it is One Herald Plaza, and The Miami Herald building represents the one place that all of my senses associate with falling in love with journalism.
For me, romancing of the newspaper began right there. We all know how difficult it is to forget that one first romance.
Of related interest
They can’t relocate my memories of The Miami Herald building
Q & A with Mario Garcia: redesigning The Miami Herald
http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/16017/qa-with-mario-garcia/
Video with some staffers bidding farewell to One Herald Plaza:
http://miami.cbslocal.com/video/8887281-its-moving-day-for-miami-herald-staff-reporters/
It’s moving day for Miami Herald staff, reporters
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/05/16/its-moving-day-for-miami-herald-staff-reporters/
