PASADENA >> The Pasadena Star-News is moving from 911 East Colorado Boulevard to 2 North Lake Avenue, Suite 150.
That sounds a lot farther on paper than it actually is — the newspaper staff is moving to the building next door.
Since its founding in 1884, the Star-News has had a few homes in Pasadena. Most notably, it moved into its iconic five-story etched-stone building — now home to the Le Cordon Bleu culinary school and 24-Hour Fitness — in 1925 and spent 65 years there. The newspaper left that building in 1990 and moved into a building with nearly as much history, the Lieberg Building, which the Star-News has called home for 26 years.
Originally built to house the Lieberg and Sons dry goods store, later shortened to Liebergs, the building has a history dating back to 1926 and a legacy that will continue once local cafe chain Lovebirds takes over the Star-News’ space.
Commerce heads east
When Peter Olaz Lieberg first opened his dry goods store in Pasadena in 1911, it was on Colorado at Arroyo Parkway. But as the city continued to grow, so did the need for businesses to set up shop farther east, outside of Old Pasadena.
In 1926, construction began on the three-story building at 911 East Colorado, billed as the “New Home of Liebergs.’ ” The building was designed by Pasadena architect Wendall W. Warren. Warren also designed the building that covers 148-154 West Colorado, now home to clothing store Banana Republic, for noted businesswoman Eva Fenyes in 1929.
Within a year, Liebergs was open, offering a wide range of textiles and floral arrangements. Around the same time, the family opened a store in Alhambra and later another in Pasadena.
By 1973, the Pasadena location had been surpassed by other department stores and newer shopping malls. It eventually closed.
Splitting up
Once Liebergs left the building, it was divided so that each floor of the building could be divided and used for different purposes. For instance, the first floor became a restaurant space, though nothing seemed to last very long, according to Star-News Public Editor and lifelong Pasadenan Larry Wilson.
Even The Brown Derby, made famous in Hollywood’s golden age, set up shop there in the late 1980s, but that didn’t last, either.
When Knight Ridder sold the Star-News and later its building in 1990, Wilson, then the paper’s editor-in-chief, and Hope Frazier, executive editor of the San Gabriel Valley News Group, went looking for locations for the new office.
Most were not on Colorado Boulevard, much to Wilson’s chagrin, he said. Then Frazier found the Lieberg building, whose first floor had most recently housed a failed Asian fusion restaurant, and it was a perfect fit.
“Everyone felt it would be a letdown because there was so much character in the old Star-News building,” Wilson said. “We were grateful when we got to move into a neighborhood like the Playhouse District in a building with great character.”
The office, meant to serve 20 reporters, editors and advertising representatives, showcased some of the building’s history, including one of the original red brick walls and an expansive atrium skylight that had once been open to show the three floors of the Liebergs department store.
Moving forward
With much of the San Gabriel Valley News Group’s operations moved to its newer, larger facility in Monrovia, the amount of space offered at 911 East Colorado was no longer necessary, said Southern California News Group Executive Editor Frank Pine.
Rather than move all of the Star-News’ operations to Monrovia, newspaper leadership sought a smaller space that would continue to provide the Star-News a home in downtown Pasadena and, fortunately, found one not more than 50 yards away.
“Our new office, right next door to the old one, is a better fit for our current needs yet still keeps us close to where the action is in this vibrant community,” Pine said.
While the new address is 2 North Lake Avenue, Wilson said he’s happy the office will essentially remain on Colorado Boulevard, as it has for the past 91 years.
One thing that won’t change, he said, is the Star-News’ commitment to quality journalism.
“(The Lieberg Building) was a really fun, collaborative space where I spent 12 years of long nights as editor,” Wilson said. “We did a whole lot of great journalism there, as I’m sure we will in 2 North Lake.”
