It's here! NewsChannel5's new set arrives in boxes

CLEVELAND - 7:30 a.m. is usually a quiet time when Good Morning Cleveland's team heads home and the day shift trickles in. Today reminds me of Santa dropping off gifts while no one's watching, except he drove up in an 18-wheeler and brought his elves to help. 

Our anxiously-awaited news set arrived in big boxes and plastic-wrapped pieces. They were gingerly carried in by our crew of engineers who wasted no time unwrapping them, puzzle pieces that will come together over the next 11 days to form WEWS' first new set in 14 years.

Chief Engineer Berry Pinney said the main news desk, weather center and a new interview set will be assembled Friday. They arrived in huge pieces that were constructed in California over the last two months.  The task of assembling the set belongs to Osbaldo Perez and his two-man crew. 

They are from San Diego and work for BDI, Broadcast Design International, a firm that designs television studios.  We plan on moving into our new studio on September 8th, but they have a deadline of August 19th to fully assemble the studio.  That gives us enough time to rehearse before we debut the new set on air next month. They will work 14 hours per day, for the next 9 days, to get the job done. Saturday they will work a 24 hour shift.

You can see in the accompanying pictures hints of what Mike Dunston and I like to call NewsChannel5 Blue. That part of this new set is familiar. What lies beneath is a mystery to most of us in the newsroom. But we're told our new home will offer state-of-the-art tools that better connect us with our viewers at home, on their smartphones, tablets and computers.

Carpet and vinyl will be laid over the weekend. Crews will then build the set from the ground up. I won't be around the newsroom over the weekend. I'm sure I'll be amazed when I return on Monday.