BRISTOL, Va. — The Bristol Herald Courier building has been sold, but the newspaper’s offices will remain on the same site — just using a portion of the existing facility.

The building at 410 Bob Morrison Blvd., was recently purchased, after going on the market about a year ago. The newspaper offices will be temporarily closed during a transition period to allow construction of a new, more modern office suite. Employees will work remotely, much like many did during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Herald Courier President Jim Maxwell said.

“The changes that are occurring will have no bearing whatsoever on our readers or our advertisers. We will continue to deliver our local content via our newspaper and our award-winning website, seven days a week,” Maxwell said.

Newspaper offices are expected to temporarily close Wednesday, May 25. The new office space, located in the rear of the western side of the building, is expected to reopen around Sept. 1.

These changes will have no impact on the Herald Courier’s printing and production facility which will continue operating just off state Route 394 in Bristol, Tennessee.

Current Herald Courier telephone numbers will continue to function and be forwarded to employee cell phones.

“Customers and readers alike can contact us via email or by our current phone numbers. Our office numbers are going to be forwarded to our cell phones,” Maxwell said.

The buyer of the Herald Courier building is King General Contractors of Bristol, Virginia.

Former newspaper owner Berkshire-Hathaway initially retained all the real estate after selling all its newspaper holdings to Lee Enterprises, a publicly traded company based in Davenport, Iowa.

The newspaper’s signature paper boy brass sculptures have been acquired by the Worrell family which established the Herald Courier and will be housed at the William King Museum of Art in Abingdon, Maxwell said.

The Herald Courier moved into the current facility almost exactly 53 years ago from its former location on Moore Street.