One building remains between Shaw and DellPlain halls, a two-story house where a rickety wooden staircase squeaks. As does the occasional mouse.

Where memories are taped to the ceilings, stuffed in filing cabinets and scribbled on the walls. A soon-to-be-demolished office that’s seen 36 years of headlines, deadlines and all-nighters.

The Daily Orange is moving in November from 744 Ostrom Ave. to 230 Euclid Ave., a Syracuse University-owned property one block south from its current home. The relocation comes after the university tore down several buildings on either side of 744 Ostrom Ave. earlier this fall.

The D.O.’s current lease at 744 Ostrom Ave. ends June 2020, but the property will likely be demolished before then. Corey Henry | Photo Editor

“The D.O. is where journalism came to life for us,” said alumnus Marc Bailes, who visited 744 Ostrom Ave. for the last time in February. He was an editor in the 1990s and has worked in newsrooms around the country since.

“But 744 stands out because, well, you never forget your first love.”

As The D.O.’s current landlord, SU has offered a subsidized rent to The D.O. to lease 230 Euclid Ave. The D.O.’s current lease at 744 Ostrom Ave. ends June 2020, but the property will likely be demolished before then.

“It has a very dreamlike quality in my memory,” said Dara McBride, a graduate of the Class of 2013. “It’s weird to think about it being demolished because it doesn’t feel like it ever could be.”

SU has not decided how it will use the soon-empty land on the 700 block of Ostrom Ave. 

The 230 Euclid Ave. property has been vacant for several months, having previously housed office space for people associated with or working for SU. The university is currently renovating the building to comply with SU’s accessibility standards.

“Though The D.O. is an independent student newspaper, our students’ well-being is always most important to us. As such, the renovations seek to create a space that is accessible, safe, welcoming and comfortable,” said Pete Sala, SU’s vice president and chief facilities officer, in a statement to The D.O.

Structural changes to The D.O.’s new office include the installation of an outdoor wheelchair ramp and a remodeled kitchen area. SU would be renovating the property regardless of The D.O.’s move, Sala said.

The D.O. is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies solely on advertising revenue and donations to sustain its editorial operations. Despite the financial realities of operating a newspaper in the 21st century, The No. 1 college newspaper in the U.S. has operated without funding from the university.

Several D.O. alumni said they still remember the first time they swung open the red front door of 744 Ostrom Ave. their freshman year. For Meredith Galante, a graduate of the Class of 2010, the newspaper’s current home has served as a constant physical reminder of The D.O.’s legacy.

“As a college student, you’re sitting in a room that people who have won Pulitzers, people who have published books, people who are covering the NBA finals were sitting there before you,” Galante said. “Students want to aspire to be great reporters because of those who have come before them.”

Student journalists past and present said they spent more time at 744 Ostrom Ave. than in their own campus housing.

744 Ostrom Ave. was home to generations of journalists who covered four SU chancellors and five Syracuse basketball Final Four appearances. Corey Henry | Photo Editor

Justin Young’s first day working as an assistant news editor was Sept. 11, 2001. Young, a graduate of the Class of 2005, remembers reporting for five days straight, sleeping at 744 Ostrom Ave. each night instead of his own dorm.

Young said The D.O. embodied his entire college experience.

“It was work ethic, it was maturity, it was immaturity, broken bones — relationships started, relationships ended,” he said.

It was at 744 Ostrom Ave. where The D.O. staff of 1991 refused funding from the Student Government Association. The building is where traditions were born, typeset was laid on hot wax and the newspaper’s website was first launched.

The building saw nine presidential elections and the end of the Cold War. It was home to generations of journalists who covered four SU chancellors and five Syracuse basketball Final Four appearances.

“It has the same kind of energy as any newsroom in the country,” said Jodi Lamagna, a graduate of the Class of 1992. “You’re living and learning as you go, and that’s an amazing thing.”

The D.O. has had several homes in its 116 years of existence. Some editors worked out of the now-demolished Yates Castle, which served as an underground railroad station during the Civil War. Others spent years at a former dorm on East Adams Street, proofing each page before transporting them to the printing plant.

Tom Coffey, a graduate of the Class of 1980, remembers working at the East Adams office with caffeine-wired colleagues and feeling grateful for its proximity to Marshall Street. He remembers hanging plastic sheets on windows when it was freezing outside.

Some things haven’t changed house-to-house. The well-loved couch from East Adams Street has withstood decades of naps and story meetings. This semester will be the couch’s last hurrah at 744 Ostrom Ave. since SU plans to fully furnish 230 Euclid Ave.

The D.O.’s has served the Syracuse community since 1903. Today the publication operates as an independent nonprofit organization. Corey Henry | Photo Editor

Though 744 Ostrom Ave. is dingy, it’s where life-long friendships and business partnerships were forged, said Jared Novack, a graduate of the Class of 2006.

“To have been a part of it is really beautiful,” Novack said.

Leaving this building marks the end of an era for The D.O. But the journalism industry is changing — and The D.O. is ready to change with it.

Nowadays, The D.O. is thinking ahead. Soon, editors, designers, photographers and videographers will be operating from a space that’s 40% larger and far more accessible than its current home.

To Bailes, it’s not the front door with the chipped red paint that defines The D.O. Rather, it’s the passionate storytellers who dedicate countless hours every year in whatever office they find themselves in.

“I really want to see The D.O. be in a place that does look and feel very different from The D.O. I knew,” Bailes said. “Because journalism is very different from the journalism that I learned.”

Published on October 15, 2019 at 10:41 pm

Contact Haley: hrober03@syr.edu