Boston shutters printing office

Boston’s municipal printing office was shut down at the end of the fiscal year, ending a run that extended back more than a century.

Since the early 1930s, the press has been housed in a three-story brick building in the city’s North End that was built using the profits that the printing operation generated.

The printing office is said to have had close to 100 employees at one time. When Boston announced plans to wind down the operation, in late 2008, fewer than 30 employees remained, according to Meredith Weenick, the city’s associate administration and finance director.

Boston, which spent $2.65 million on salaries, benefits and other printing plant-related expenses in fiscal 2009, expects to save roughly $800,000 in the current fiscal year and $1 million a year thereafter by outsourcing its printing needs.

Of the 23 employees who remained on staff earlier this year, 12 have found employment in other city positions or elsewhere. Of the 11 who were laid off, five are eligible for retirement benefits.

“The city is very proud of the printing department and the quality of the work they produced,” Weenick said. “This was simply a financial decision, based on a competitive market that has very much changed over the years.”

Weenick cited improvements in laser printers, which she said are now often capable of producing work that is indistinguishable from that of conventional printing technology, at a much lower price.

The city, Weenick said, has yet to decide whether to sell the building that has housed the printing operation. She added that the printing equipment itself is unlikely to have much in the way of resale value.