The Eagle Expansion

The Eagle Expansion

Investing In Our Future

THE NEWSPAPER’S 127-YEAR HISTORY PHOTOS OF THE PROCESS THE CONTRACTOR BEHIND THE CONSTRUCTION

The Eagle Expansion A special publication of The Eagle, 1729 Briarcrest Drive, Bryan, TX 77802

Crystal Dupre’ Publisher Sean Lewis Director of Advertising Linda Brinkman Display Advertising Manager

Photos: • Ben Tedrick IT Engineer • Timothy Hurst Photographer • Dave McDermand Photographer

Kelly Brown Editor Shauna Lewis Advertorial Special Projects Editor

Section layout: • Shauna Lewis • Joshua Siegel Copy Editor

Photos by Ben Tedrick Top: Workers construct the roof on an addition to The Eagle.

Below: Mark Wilson, The Eagle’s production director, celebrates the arrival of a new Goss Urbanite press.

Contents

The Eagle’s expansion began in June, and is expected to be completed in January. The 9,300-foot expansion includes the addition of a new Goss Urbanite press, allowing The Eagle to expand its printing business, including printing its sister paper, the Waco-Tribune Herald.

See stories: Page 3 - The Eagle newspaper’s 127-year history Page 6 - JaCody: The contractor behind the construction

Men work to smooth freshly poured concrete at The Eagle.

Photo by Ben Tedrick

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THE EAGLE

CELEBRATES

127YEARS IN BUSINESS Longest-serving media in the region Sunday, December 4, 2016

T

he Bryan-College Station Eagle – which this year celebrates 127 years of covering Brazos Valley’s newsmakers, issues, triumphs and tribulations — continues to expand its reach, recently spending $4.6 million on a project in which 9,300 square feet was added to its operation on Briarcrest Drive.

A new warehouse was built, while a second Goss Urbanite press was installed over the summer, so that by October the maroon machine — a twin to the press sitting adjacent to it — was printing its newest customer: the Waco Tribune. The expansion is allowing The Eagle to grow its print business from its base of 60-plus customers that already publish 100 publications, amounting to 400 editions monthly, according to Publisher Crystal Dupre.

The Eagle’s distinguished tenure makes it not just the longest-serving media operation in the eight-county region, but one of the oldest businesses in Bryan-College Station.

Recording history as it happens, The Eagle has reported on the area once primarily known for its cotton, cattle and the railroad, to being home to a dozen or so state agencies and Texas A&M, one of the largest universities in the country.

The Eagle, which opened its doors the same year the first Aggie Ring was cast, even beat Texas A&M football to the field by five years. A reporter and photographer were there to document it when N. Valdez, a student from Hidalgo, Mexico, scored the first touchdown in the 14-0 victory

Continued on 4

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Continued from 3 over Galveston.

And, of course, along the way the paper covered everything from social news to political issues and from interesting personalities to horrific crimes that unfolded in the Brazos Valley. Often, it’s the photographs that remain in the memories of readers, including a series of images taken by an Eagle photographer in 1912 when Old Main — Texas A&M’s first administration-classroom building — went up in flames.

Sporting events for high school and college students became increasingly popular in the paper, including in 1922 when Bryan High School won the state championship in the first UIL football game ever played in Texas. Reporters were there to explain what it meant when College Station incorporated in 1938 and in the early ’40s when Hearne opened a POW camp filled with German soldiers during World War II. Few were surprised in 1925 when A&M’s College Board of Directors passed a resolution prohibiting female students from entering the school, nor were they shocked in 1964 when five male freshmen

became the first AfricanAmericans in the Corps of Cadets. The issue had been discussed for years.

A year later, The Eagle published a story with the headline “Girls!

Girls! Girls!” when the first female students were admitted, and rehashed that coverage 50 years later when the number of female students almost equaled the number of men enrolled.

International and national media descended upon College Station 19 years ago last month when George H.W. Bush — the 41st president of the United States — officially opened his library and museum here, drawing movie stars, tens of thousands of visitors, dignitaries from across the globe and former presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, along with the then-president Bill Clinton and thenfuture president George W. Bush. The Eagle celebrated the event with half a dozen special sections devoted to every possible angle, including a sit-down interview with the elder Bush.

He became a part of the Bryan-College Station community, and The Eagle so far has never missed an opportunity to cover Bush or the many programs his museum has sponsored since 1997.

When President Barak Obama was invited in 2009 by Bush to talk at A&M about community service, the local newspaper again had a front row seat to history.

“The Eagle has played an invaluable role in the history of BryanCollege Station,” said Henry Mayo, a longtime member of the Brazos County Historical Society. “For decades, before broadcast media was established, The Eagle not only connected local citizens to the events of the world, but it also provided the day-today information which a growing community needs. It also provided the ‘call to arms’ when public action or outcry was needed to preempt or change a decision which could have detrimental effect on the community.”

The following is a brief history of The Eagle newspaper: • 1889: Attorney Richard Smith published the first edition of the Bryan Eagle, not the first newspaper in the relatively new community, but the one that would last.

His father and uncle were journalists who worked in Bryan. Smith opened his first paper, the Brazos Pilot, in January 1877, but sold it

— HENRY MAYO

Brazos County Historical Society

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It’s your job to make your paper indispensable to anyone who cares about what is going on in your city or town.

— WARREN BUFFETT Berkshire Hathaway

tree collapsed at her desk and died 10 days later.

• 1962: The Eagle was sold to Harte-Hanks Communications Inc. of San Antonio, which also owned the San Antonio Express-News. Though local residents ceased to own the paper, the focus remained on local news.

• 1979: The Eagle outgrew its offices on 26th Street in Downtown Bryan (it’s not clear when the newspaper moved from Main Street) and built its present location at 1729 Briarcrest

Continued from 4 in 1882. Eventually, the two papers merged. The new weekly was on Main Street in Downtown Bryan (most recently home to the Forsyth Gallery, formerly the F.W. Woolworth store). In that first issue, Smith said, “Bryan is a little daisy now ‘certain and sure.’”

• 1890: Smith owned The Eagle for less than a year, selling it to William D. Cox. • 1895: The Eagle began full daily publica-

tion. For 42 years, The Eagle continued as both a daily and weekly paper.

• 1921: Lee J. and Frances Rountree bought the paper. Lee Rountree soon was elected state representative from Brazos and Grimes counties, leaving his wife, Frances, to run The Eagle while he was in Austin.

• 1923: Rountree was a likely candidate for lieutenant governor, but had yet to announce his candidacy. On May 2, 1923, Civil War veterans

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of Hood’s Texas Brigade presented flowers to Rountree on the floor of the House. The next day, so moved by the gesture, Rountree got up to speak of their kindness, then died of a massive stroke. Mrs. Rountree took over The Eagle and was appointed to fill out her husband’s legislative term. She was elected to one term of her own before being defeated.

• 1937: The Bryan Weekly Eagle ceased publication.

• 1956: Francis Roun-

Drive in Bryan.

• 1988: Worrell Enterprises Inc. of Charlottesville, Va., purchased The Eagle in January.

• 1995: A.H. Belo Corp., publisher of The Dallas Morning News, purchased The Eagle.

• 2000: The Eagle was sold to Evening Post Publishing Co. of Charleston, S.C. • 2012: OmahaNeb.-based Berkshire Hathaway, a company owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, a selfproclaimed news junkie, added The Eagle to its

growing portfolio of newspapers, which now sits at almost 90. The price was not disclosed.

“Berkshire buys for keeps,” Buffett said. “If a citizenry cares little about its community, it will eventually care little about its newspaper. I believe newspapers that intensively cover their communities will have a good future.

“It’s your job to make your paper indispensable to anyone who cares about what is going on in your city or town,” he wrote in a memo to employees.

979-361-2900

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JaCody: The contractor behind the construction

By SHAUNA LEWIS

The Eagle At least 100 people have worked on The Eagle’s ongoing expansion that began in June, and College Stationbased commercial general contractor JaCody Construction is the company behind it all.

Cody McKean, JaCody Construction president, said his company and a team of sub-contractors – a total of about 100 – have worked hard to meet critical deadlines for the Bryan newspaper.

JaCody, which has about 30 employees, takes pride in meeting deadlines and producing quality work.

The 9,300-foot expansion includes the addition of a new Goss Urbanite press, allowing The Eagle to expand its printing business, including printing its sister paper, the Waco Tribune-Herald. Both papers are owned by BH Media Group, based in Omaha, Nebraska. McKean said it was challenging to get the new press operational by October, in time for the busy holiday printing season, but his team was able to pull it off. The press, along with inserters, a warehouse and a loading dock were all part of Phase 1 that was completed by the end of October. An additional two loading docks, a slab and an extension of the loading dock are part of Phase II, McKean said, which he expects to start in late November and be completed by January.

“We’ve got a very good team,” McKean said.

The most challenging aspect of the construction was the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) aspect of it because The Eagle is an operating company, he said. Several shutdowns were scheduled during nights and weekends so construction would not interfere with regular business.

JaCody’s employees did the framing, ceiling, painting and drywall work, while sub-contractors did plumbing, mechanical and electrical jobs. The company uses mostly local sub-contractors for its jobs, McKean said.

Construction at The Eagle progressed well, despite some tight deadlines and some surprises, which are part of every job, he noted.

“That’s why I like it,” he said about his job. “There’s always something different. No job’s the same.”

He gave credit for completing Phase 1 on time to his capable team members, including three main superintendents: Robert Krupa, vice president, Blanton Beard and Chris Werlinger, as well as project managers: Forrest Couch, vice president and Andy Prado.

About JaCody McKean’s father, Wick McKean, started his homebuilding business, College Station-based JANWIC Homes 42 years ago. The business eventually started constructing commercial projects, and became JaCody Construction in 1994.

“My dad started building WinnDixie grocery stores locally and in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and it just converted to commercial,” he said.

By that point, the younger McKean had years of experience learning the trade, with the goal of joining his father’s business.

He started off doing plumbing work, and progressed to electrical and mechanical work.

“I basically worked in every field coming up,” he said. “You really need to learn Photo by Ben Tedrick the responsibilities and JaCody Construction President Cody McKean assists with pour- functioning of each ing a slab. trade.”

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A man prepares the groundwork to pour a new slab at The Eagle.

Photo by Ben Tedrick

JaCody’s projects are local, and A general contractor oversees about 70 percent of its work is repeat every aspect of the job. JaCody business, he said. For example, St. superintendents are all “hands-on,” Joseph has been hiring JaCody for jobs and can usually be found on job sites for about 19 years. Customers likely ensuring that everything is running come back again and again because smoothly and on time. of the company’s dedication. McKean JaCody’s projects include civil, said the company works on a timely municipal, medical and private schedule, and strives to stay in budget. sector jobs. As of mid-November, “We value a good product. We take the company was overseeing 10 pride in constructing a project that construction jobs at different locations both the owner and JaCody can be in the Brazos Valley, McKean said.

JaCody mostly does construction in the proud of,” McKean said.

Brazos Valley, although workers travel For more information on JaCody throughout the state to build Pizza Construction, located at 10770 Highway Hut and Cotton Patch restaurants and 30 in College Station, call 979-774-5613 Wal-Mart stores. Many Bryan-College or visit www.jacodyinc.com.

Station buildings and parks familiar to locals were built

by JaCody, such as the City of College Station Municipal Court, College Station Utility Customer Services building, the College Station Fire Department Station No. 3, Commerce National Bank (four locations), Veterans Park & Athletic Complex, The Children’s Museum of the Brazos Valley, KBTX’s studio and CHI St. Joseph Hospital – to Photo by Ben Tedrick name a few.

A worker drills holes in preparation to break up and remove part of a parking lot.

The majority of

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