The Los Angeles Times said Thursday it plans to close its printing plant in Costa Mesa in its continuing quest to cut costs.
The Times, part of bankrupt Tribune Co. of Chicago, plans to consolidate its printing operations into one facility in Los Angeles, the newspaper said.
The newspaper is expected to generate “substantial savings” by closing the Orange County plant, according to Times Publisher Eddy Hartenstein.
“All our efforts are being done with a keen eye toward limiting personnel loss throughout the company, while maintaining and growing other areas of the business,’” Hartenstein said in a memo.
The plant is expected to begin closing by early February and result in the loss of about 80 workers.
Orange County editorial, advertising and circulation operations and the Times Community newspapers will remain at the Times’ Costa Mesa facility.
As part of the closure, The Times plans to start a new section dubbed LATExtra to accommodate earlier deadlines caused by the plant closure.
The new section will run any late-breaking news previously published in individual sections coming out of the Costa Mesa plant.
LATExtra section will run Monday through Saturday starting in February.
Also as a cost cutting measure, the paper is eliminating its business sections on Mondays and will fold any business news into the main paper.
The food section will be moved from Wednesday to Thursday so it will be available to weekend subscribers and to take advantage of weekend advertising.
