G.W. Schutz of the Bay Guardian tells us (see his comments under “Chronicle urged to go paperless”) that Transcontinental, the Canadian company which has a contract to print the Chron starting in 2009, intends to build a 338,000-square-foot plant on Kato Road in Fremont. Schulz says his information is from a Chron source.

Chron Publisher Frank Vega announced last November that the paper planned to outsource its printing to Transcon under a 15-year contract worth $1 billion. Transcon would take over the printing when the Chron’s current contract with its 237 Teamster printers expires. Transcon said at the time that it planned to invest $200 million in the new plant and presses. In April, Transcon announced it has bought three presses from MAN Roland, each capable of producing 36 broadsheet pages in full color or 48 pages with 24 in color.