As the Santa Cruz Sentinel packs up and moves from its downtown offices to Santa Cruz, Claudia Sternbach shares some of her memories of the big and boxy building that MediaNews is selling. She notes that because the newspaper was located downtown, it was always a good idea to take a notebook when you went on a coffee break — good stories could be found closeby.

“This next week, the Sentinel staff will settle in to their new digs in Scotts Valley. I imagine it will be lovely. The carpet will be nicer, I’m sure. And eventually there will be employees who never worked in the Church Street office. Reporters and photographers who will build their own memories of working at the Santa Cruz Sentinel in the only place they have ever known.”

The Sentinel has occupied the 54,000-square-foot Church Street building since 1967 and has been located in downtown Santa Cruz for 150 years. (Also see “Sentinel leaving Santa Cruz for Scotts Valley,” Press Club blog July 27)