TPCO: Tribune Publishing to lay off nearly 200 workers as printing operations prepare for move to Schaumburg

Chicago Tribune Freedom Center located at 560 W Grand Ave., in the River West neighborhood. Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times file Tribune Publishing will lay off nearly 200 workers beginning April 22 as the newspaper gears up to move printing operations from the Freedom Center to Schaumburg. Employees were made aware of the layoffs last week, according to data disclosed under the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. "Plant closure" was listed as the reason for the layoffs. Paddock Publications, the publisher of the Daily Herald, agreed in May to sell its 20-year-old Paddock Printing Center in Schaumburg to an affiliate of Tribune Publishing. Twenty Lake Holdings, which will be the new owner of the 160,000-square-foot facility on 21 acres along the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, is a subsidiary of Alden Global Capital along with Tribune Publishing.Paddock signed a long-term contract for Tribune Publishing to print and distribute the Daily Herald. Tribune Publishing also prints and distributes the Chicago Sun-Times.Existing Daily Herald production staff members will be offered positions with Tribune Publishing as it takes over management of the facility.The Tribune's current printing plant along the Chicago River - the Freedom Center - was itself sold to make way for a Bally's casino and entertainment district.The center will be demolished and the casino is expected to open in 2026. Related City approves new hotel design for Bally's Chicago casino site Chicago Tribune reporters, newsroom staff strike for first time in newspaper's 180-year history: 'This is Chicago, we don't back down'