After sitting vacant for four years, the historic former Tribune Building in downtown South Bend may have new life.
The University of Notre Dame has bought the former South Bend Tribune building at Colfax and Lafayette, where it’s stood since 1921, and stood vacant since 2019.
County property records show, and the university has confirmed with WVPE, that Notre Dame took ownership of the art deco brick structure in late September, buying it from the Tribune’s former owner, Schurz Communications.
Notre Dame officials declined to talk about the project Monday because they wanted to instead focus on announcing their next president. But in a written statement, the university said the acquisition marks an early milestone in its “newly adopted strategic framework, which calls for meaningful investments in science and engineering and further collaborations to advance economic well-being in the South Bend-Elkhart region.”
The building’s been vacant since the Tribune moved out in late 2019 for smaller digs at Union Station, before moving again a few months later to its current home in the former Studebaker plant. The newspaper had downsized its staff to the point that it was no longer using much of the Tribune Building.
This is a developing story.
