Fundraising For New KUAF 'Impressive'
By Dru Glaze
Lemke Ledger Staff
After starting as a 10-watt student-run radio station, KUAF has undergone significant changes through the years. That change continues with a new building under construction.
The station, which is in the Dickson Street Annex, will be moving to School Street across from the Fayetteville Public Library.
Artist's renderings (above, below) illustrate elements of the new KUAF
building under construction on School Street. Ground breaking for the
new facility
was held Feb. 17.
— Renderings provided
The process started three years ago. First on the list was to get permission to conduct a capital campaign. The goal for the campaign is $1.5 million. Shortly after the ground breaking ceremony Feb. 17, the campaign had earned a total of $937,000, said Professor Rick Stockdell, who teaches broadcast and helped get KUAF off the ground.
The largest gift to the campaign was $500,000 from a Fayetteville foundation, which requested to remain anonymous.
The second-largest donation was from Hershey and Denise Garner.
Most other donations ranged from $1,000 to $25,000, Stockdell said.
“It’s very impressive” that people are willing and able to donate such large amounts with the current state of the economy, Stockdell said.
In November and December of 2008, with the economy continuing to struggle, Stockdell began to hear that it was not a good time to raise money. Stockdell is optimistic, though.
“We still have a lot of people to talk to and a lot of people to ask,” he said.
The money earned has mostly been done in person. No on-air requests have been made.
Stockdell bought the new site in December 2007 with money from an endowment. The $1.5 million raised will be used to expand and renovate the building. Construction costs alone are estimated to be nearly $2 million. Stockdell says that most of the existing equipment is fairly new and will continue to be used. He does hope that the campaign yields enough money to buy furniture for the new building, though.
KUAF staff have known for some time that they needed a better space, Stockdell said. The station is cramped in an old apartment unit. This causes problems because wiring in the building is not grounded.
“It will be good to get into a building with all new electrical,” Stockdell said, “for the safety of the equipment.”
KUAF's new studios will encompass more than 7,000 square feet.
The final push for a new building came when university officials decided to raze the Dickson Street Annex. Plans for the old site call for building a nanotechnology center.
The new KUAF could be completed by November.
The new building was designed by Jeffery Scherer, the architect who designed the Public Library. Scherer, an alumnus of the UA School of Architecture, heard about the project from the director of the public library. Scherer contributed the design work. The firm Scherer works for in Minneapolis allots for a certain amount of pro-bono work each year for nonprofit organizations. Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter Architects LTD has since taken over the design, but tried to keep the original design as much as possible.
The new KUAF will span more than 7,000 square feet and allows for new additions to the station.
One of the biggest features will be a performance studio. When guests perform, listeners can hear it live. The studio also can be used for interviews, panel discussions and guest presentations.
“It is a huge deal having a space to bring in live musicians,” Stockdell said.
A studio for each of the digital high definition (HD) channels also will be included.
Another big advantage is that each news producer will have a studio. In the old building, if two producers scheduled interviews on the same day and same time, one had to reschedule.
“Everyone can come in at 2 o’clock on the same day for an interview” and it’s not a problem, Stockdell said.
The new building also will have space to host receptions and other station events, which is not possible at the Dickson Street Annex.
The building design allows it to be as close to a passive solar building as KUAF could get. The building will have bamboo floors and showers on the bottom floor. The showers will allow staff members who want to ride their bike to work to do so. There also will be a garden on the south side of the building with shrubs that will cover the windows. This will allow for shade during the summer and light during the winter months. The aim is to make the station as green as possible, Stockdell said.
KUAF is an National Public Radio affiliate. The station presents a mix of classical music and news. During the week, the station broadcasts only news from 5-9 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. The rest of the day is filled with classical music programming. The weekend programming consists of news and talk shows only.
The station now has two HD channels. HD2 broadcasts classical music 24/7, while HD3 broadcasts news talk 24/7. Stockdell says HD is free, unlike satellite radio, but requires listeners to have a special HD radio. The HD channels will help KUAF address the issue of listeners who only want classical music or those who only want news. Also, HD studios in the new building will allow for local programming on the HD channels.