KTTC Through the Years 1993-2002

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – Many ups and downs took place over the years, and every time Rochester, southeast Minnesota, and the country prevailed.

In 1993, KTTC was celebrating 40 years on the air. A top story was IBM’s shocking decision to cut its worldwide workforce.

At the time, IBM employed 223,000 people in the United States. 7,800 of them worked in Rochester.

Big Blue began the process of cutting 700 regular employees and 1,200 temporaries in the Med City.

Most of the cuts came from the plant’s AdStar division. Nationwide, 60,000 IBM employees’ jobs were slashed, the largest corporate layoff in American history.

Fast forward to 1997, Rochester was continuing to grow, which created a need for a third public high school. That’s when Century High School was born.

“I think it’s as good and a little bit better than I thought it would be, I think it’s a very nice, functional building.”

KTTC was there when construction on the school finished and opened that fall.

At first, Century was only a school for 9th and 10th grade students. 11th and 12th grades were added in the upcoming years.

“I don’t think you could find a more committed, dedicated, and excited staff than this one, and I say that with all sincerity.”

A little more than 30 minutes east of Rochester, the town of Lewiston was forever changed in July of 1999.

A tornado touched down, creating a path of destruction down Main Street and the blocks around it in a matter of seconds.

35 homes were damaged, five were destroyed, and thankfully there were only a few minor injuries.

KTTC was one of the first teams at the scene.

The twister altered the look of the town forever. Rebuilding lasted nearly a year.

In early 2001, Mayo Clinic was reaching new heights. Phase two of construction on the brand new Gonda building was completed, adding seven stories.

At the time, it was the tallest building in Rochester, but was later surpassed in 2004 by the Broadway Plaza.

This was the largest building project in Mayo Clinic’s history. Located at the heart of the campus, Gonda is the centerpiece of Mayo’s integrated practice.

Later that year, there was an attack on America. Four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks had Americans in shock, eyes glued to TV screens to watch the tragedy unfold. Daily life stopped in its track.

“It’s disgusting that there are people in this world that would go to these ends to do something like this. God bless America.”

One location heavily watched after 9/11 was Mayo Clinic, as it is on the national list of sites targeted by terrorists. The world as we knew it was changed from that day.

2002 marked another large milestone for KTTC.

After being housed in downtown Rochester for 36 years, the station packed up and moved to Bandel Road Northwest.

The growth and success of the company made this possible, and the future of Television made it necessary as we continued to build into the 21st century.

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