After 30 years of running part of its operation out of a former airplane hangar and rollerskating rink on East Division Street, the Dover Post is making changes, consolidating space and moving to more technologically efficient offices.

    As of January 2009, the office at 609 E. Division Street will be shut down and all employees of GateHouse Media Inc. at the Post will move to the company’s other Dover office at 1196 S. Little Creek Road where the company’s newspaper press operations are located.

    Publisher Tom Quinn said with advancements in technology, the Division Street building’s size is larger than the company’s needs, while its age has made it difficult to rewire and keep up with the times.

    “We just don’t need this much square footage or work space as our industry has moved into the digital age,” Quinn said. “This building is not allowing us to get the necessary technological advancements. It’s just costing too much.”

    He added that selling the Division Street property and renovating and remodeling the South Little Creek Road office makes more sense.

    “It’s more efficient to remodel a newer building then to rewire an older structure,” Quinn said.

    In addition to updating the technological aspects of the company’s facilities, he said the Post’s customers would be better served with all operations being in one location. No staff will be let go in the move, he added.

    “We’re consolidating operations under one roof, putting both the printing and administration together,” Quinn said. “This will help us to serve our customers more efficiently.”

    The process of selling the property on Division Street dates back almost two years, before GateHouse bought the company from the Flood family.

    Developers Mike Zimmerman and Sal Leone took an interest in buying the land for use as a CVS/pharmacy.

    “Consolidating operations was a move that the previous owners, the Flood family, had initially worked out,” Quinn said. “GateHouse just came into the plan with their ideas.”

    Zimmerman said CVS contacted him about an interest in coming to Dover, and as a friend of the Floods, he knew the land might be available, so he decided to make some inquiries.

    “I looked for locations to put CVS,” he said. “I talked to the Floods because I knew they were looking at combining the facilities. Then the new ownership came in which was kind of a blip in the plan. But we got on track and we’re closing the sale Nov. 21.”

    Leone said the Division Street property is perfect for CVS, which is not by any means a new company but will be new to the Dover area. The spot, he said, will give them the exposure they want.

    “When a Fortune 500 company wants a corner, they want it,” Leone said. “They pretty much do whatever they can to get it. It’s a busy corner, there’re a lot of rooftops around there and there is a lot of traffic. It was a perfect spot, a perfect marriage.”

    When the Dover Post leaves the Division Street property in January, Zimmerman and Leone’s team will raze the building, which dates back to 1933.

    When the CVS store finally does open, it will be one of two CVS drug stores added to the Dover area by Zimmerman and Leone.

    The second will be on the southeast corner of  Saulsbury Road and Route 8 on a property that Zimmerman said also will include either a bank or 15,000 square feet of retail shops.

    A special feature story is planned on the Dover Post building, including its past life as Dover’s first airplane hangar and later as a popular rollerskating rink. The help of Dover Post readers would be very much appreciated. Please share your memories of the building’s history by calling the paper at 678-3616 or by writing Jim Flood Sr. at P.O. Box 664, Dover DE 19903, or by emailing him at mr.flood@dover post.com.

    It would be helpful if any information, memories or photos about the building reach the newspaper by Wednesday, Nov. 19.