We’re running a story tomorrow about The Press at CC, and how the college is throwing an open house and putting on a lecture to welcome it into its new home.

Which raises a question our story won’t have space to deal with: How do you move five old fine printing presses, weighing up to 3,500 pounds, keeping them from damage and misalignment?

The answer, according to CC’s media relations wiz Leslie Weddell:

Very carefully, and with the help of a dozen people, a moving truck, forklift and tow truck.

Colorado College moved the 31-year-old Press at Colorado College’s collection of fine printing presses and lead type from the basement of Jackson House to a new home in Taylor Hall in mid-August. Five presses, including one built in 1895 and one weighing 3,500 pounds, and more than 500 cases of lead type, were transported across campus in a move that involved removing doors, windows, and a retaining wall from Jackson House.

The transfer of the heavy presses was a very delicate procedure as the movers had to ensure that none of the machinery was damaged or misaligned in the process. The five presses include three proof presses made in the 1960s, one of which was made in Germany and the other two weighing more than 2,000 pounds. In addition, there was a Vandercook roller proofing press, weighing about 3,500 pounds, and one Chandler and Price platen press dating back to 1895.

The biggest of the bunch, the rare Vandercook Universal IV, required the removal of a concrete retaining wall from the Jackson House in order to extract it from the basement. All the presses were then carefully placed into a flat bed truck by a fork lift, ensuring that the very specific factory-set press tolerances were not modified as any variances would negatively affect the quality of a print.

Incidentally, KRCC’s “Big Something” did a nice piece on The Press.