Building the future of WVXU-FM and WGUC-FM began Tuesday.
A groundbreaking took place at 11 a.m. on Dana Avenue in Evanston, just west of I-71, for a new two-story building with offices and studios for Cincinnati Public Radio.
"This building marks more than a new chapter in the more than 60-year history of Cincinnati Public Radio," says Richard Eiswerth, Cincinnati Public Radio president, CEO and general manager. "It’s the culmination of our effort to truly bring public media into the 21st century — by creating a facility that not only improves our ability to create and distribute the highest quality information and entertainment, but also encourages the involvement of the community."
Tuesday's ceremony was the culmination of a six-year search by Cincinnati Public Radio, which rents space on the second floor of the Crosley Telecommunications Center owned by public television station WCET-TV on Central Parkway across from Music Hall.
"The effort to be masters of our own destiny has been a long time coming," Eiswerth says.
Otto M. Budig Jr., capital campaign co-chair and board member emeritus, says the new building will serve the entire community. "Over 230,000 people listen to our public radio stations every day," Budig says.
The new facility will be called the Scripps Family Center for Public Media, says Murray "Mu" Sinclaire, Cincinnati Public Radio trustees chairman and co-chair of the capital campaign. The eco-friendly building will be constructed of Canadian mass timber instead of steel beams, have rooftop solar panels and a "unique HVAC system with heating from the floor," Eiswerth says.
Last year the public radio stations purchased 0.79 of an acre at 2117 Dana Avenue in Neyer Properties' Keystone Parke development. The new building will be located between the Keystone Parke Hilton Garden Inn and the Evanston Recreation Area, and just north of the Greater Cincinnati American Red Cross.
"Being immediately adjacent to Evanston Park will permit us to host events that welcome the public into our space. A true 'partnership' with the community — that’s the future of public media," Eiswerth says.
The two-story, 30,000-square foot headquarters — nearly double the current space in the WCET-TV building — will house 11 studios, some offices and a performance space. The new professional recording studio will be about four times the size of the current Corbett studio, the stations' production studio.
Plans also call for a large first-floor gathering space to serve as a public performance venue for student, professional or amateur musicians, public lectures, political debates, public meetings and rotating art exhibits. The space "opens up to Evanston Park, so our musical performances and community gatherings can expand into a much larger venue, weather permitting," Eiswerth says.
Having its own building will make Cincinnati Public Radio more visible in the community — and easier to find.
"We’ve had scores of complaints over the years that visitors to our present location couldn’t even find the main entrance!" Eiswerth says. Currently, visitors must go to WCET-TV's entrance located above the exposed ground-level Crosley Telecommuniations Center parking garage, then go upstairs to the WVXU and WGUC studios and offices.
"Unlike our current residence, the building will provide a ground floor presence, which means we will be — in reality and in perception — more open and accessible," he says.
Eiswerth expressed his "limitless gratitude" to the leaders of the capital campaign: Sinclaire, Budig and Tim Maloney, former Haile Foundation president and CEO.
"The amount of time and effort they’ve expended in this multi-year campaign cannot be overestimated or under-appreciated," he says. "And we also thank our honorary campaign leads: Bryce Dessner, Jim Scott and Nick Clooney."
WGUC-FM began broadcasting on Sept. 21, 1960, from the University of Cincinnati campus. The station moved in 1980 to the Crosley center named for Powel Crosley Jr., who started WLW-AM in 1922 and the city's first TV station, WLWT-TV, in 1948.
The groundbreaking ceremony was exactly 18 years to the day when Cincinnati Public Radio transferred the WVXU-FM license from Xavier University on Aug. 22, 2005. WVXU-FM, founded in 1970 at Xavier University,moved from the Xavier campus into the Crosley center when Cincinnati Public Radio purchased the station. The new Dana Avenue studios are less than two miles from the Xavier campus.
John Kiesewetter's reporting is independent. Cincinnati Public Radio only edits his stories for style and grammar.
