2024 05 22

Chicago Tribune printing press technician works in the now-defunct Chicago plant. April, 2016. © Clayton Hauck

I don’t want this space to turn into a place where I’m regularly pulling from the archives, however, when I heard on NPR this morning that today marks the first ever day in which the Chicago Tribune was not printed in the city of Chicago (the plant was sold to make way for a casino…maybe!), it reminded me of a Chicago Magazine assignment from nearly a decade ago now (yikes) in which I got an amazing behind-the-scenes tour of the printing press facilities.

It’s forever my favorite thing about being a photographer: the peek into a world I’d otherwise never get to experience, even if only for an hour. You could feel the years of history coating the surfaces in this place; ink and gunk collecting over decades. You could also sense the end of an era; empty spaces once full of people and materials now a victim of dwindling news print capacity. Soon the wrecking ball will come and a bland mid-tear casino will rise in its place. Maybe.

-Clayton