Former Press House building Battle site

The publishing house and printing house complex built in 1978 housed the editorial offices of all newspapers and magazines of republican importance. Journalists played a very important role in the course of the Awakening, as their presence in the Press House facilitated mutual contacts and organization. It was here that the Latvian People's Front began to take shape. The idea of the need for such an organization was expressed at the plenum of the Creative Unions on June 1-2, 1988, and already on June 22, Viktors Avotiņš read its first, unpublished manifesto at a meeting of journalists. However, the idea was only realized after the Writers' Union and its chairman, Jānis Peters, became involved in its implementation.

The Press House belonged to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia, which had taken over and effectively monopolized the publication of all newspapers and magazines of republican significance. All profits from the publishing house and printing house went to the treasury of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia. During the Awakening, as efforts to restore Latvia's independence intensified, the issue of ownership rights to the Press House also arose. After the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on May 4, 1990, a dual government was effectively formed, as some Latvian institutions refused to submit to the government of the Republic of Latvia. The Latvian government established the Latvian Newspaper and Magazine Publishing House, but the USSR Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia led by Alfred Rubiks considered the Press House to be the property of the USSR. The situation escalated in November 1990, when OMON attacks on the Press House took place, but on January 2, 1991, OMON completely took over the Press House and stopped printing publications supporting the LTF, expelling their employees from the Press House.

Demolition work on the Press House printing house began in 2020. The construction of the Press House block is currently underway, which will completely change its former appearance.