First up is Alabama, and we view an
abandoned radio station somewhere in the vicinity of the large
country town of Cullman, which is located approximately half way between
Huntsville and Birmingham. The visitor
to this abandoned radio station, who does not seem to be identified, likewise
asked that the callsign and location of this station not be identified either.
The abandoned radio station in
Vincent was a community radio station with compact studios, offices and
transmitter all at the same two story site.
This station is in plain view of many commercial businesses though its
surrounding land area is completely overgrown, so much so that it is difficult
to gain access to the building itself.
At the time of the visit, the front
door was wide open, and the entryway revealed rotten wood and wet carpet,
together with the stench of mold.
Apparently this building was a private house that had been converted
into a radio station somewhere around the middle of last century.
Old style music records were strewn
around the floor, the station callsign could still be read on the wall, the
interior corridor was unsafe to traverse, and it seemed like a fire had burned
out the transmitter many years ago. The
date on the fire extinguisher inspection card showed September 25, 1992.
At the back of the building was a
spiraling staircase that led to the top floor wherein was a kitchenette. The flooring above the fire damaged area
below had collapsed long ago. The view
of the station property from this second floor location showed everything
abandoned, overgrown and uncared for.
We leave this unidentified site in
Alabama, and we move on to Florida, to what was medium wave station WGGG with
100 watts on 1230 kHz in Gainesville, a university city in the northern area of the state. Radio station WGGG was built back in 1946,
with the production studios in the center of the building, completely
surrounded by a corridor in an endeavor to reduce unwanted noise from the
railway line across the street, and from aircraft at the nearby airport.
Station WGGG, changed ownership many
times, and it was sold in 1984 to new owners, who transferred the facility to
another location, and abandoned the historic building at 1230 Waldo Road. As would be expected, the building has been
seriously vandalized over the years.
The third state we visit in our
program today is Illinois, and in the regional city of Clinton lies the
abandoned facility that was at one time station WHOW with 1 kW on 1520
kHz. The town of Clinton is located in
the very center of the state of Illinois and it was named for a governor of the
state of New York back in the early 1800s, not for a president of the United
States in more recent time.
In 1972, the studios for medium wave
WHOW were transferred from their downtown location into what became known as
the Old Red Barn on the outskirts of the small city. As the years went by, the station was never
modernized nor upgraded, and it was finally closed and abandoned as was in
2002. As would be expected, the clock on
the wall is no longer functioning.
The fourth state we visit is
Montana, where station KPRK was inaugurated on January 9, 1947 with 1 kW on
1340 kHz. This station was located in a
very ornate building on the edge of Livingston
that is to this day listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Surprisingly, recent photos of this abandoned
medium wave station KPRK show that the building has not been vandalized and it
appears to be still in its earlier pristine condition.
Next we go to New York state. In 1948, mediumwave station WIBX was
transferred from its original location at the U-bend of the Mohawk River at the
end of Schuyler Street Utica in to a new location on Clark Mills Road. At the same time, the station underwent a
frequency change from 1230 kHz to 950 kHz, and the studios were transferred
from the downtown First National Bank Building into the newly constructed
station building.
As time went by, additional radio
stations were incorporated into this same building until a total of five radio
stations were squeezed into this overcrowded facility. In 2003, all five stations were moved into a
new facility on River Road Marcy, and the building on Clark Mills Road was
abandoned. However, to their credit, it
should be stated that the interior of the building was cleaned out, and to this
day, it still gives the same impression.
In Tulsa Oklahoma, radio station
KOME with 5 kW on 1300 kHz was abandoned towards the end of last century and
likewise, this building was also cleaned out before the owners vacated it. There is not much to be seen here, just empty
rooms, and very little vandalism.
Surprisingly, we could go on, and
mention so many other abandoned radio broadcasting stations in the United
States. In Shamokin Pennsylvania, the
transmitter facility for medium wave station WISL was installed in an out of
town junk yard, and the four towers still stand to this day. Junk in the transmitter building is piled
high in cardboard boxes.
Also in Pennsylvania was FM station
WCHR 94.5 MHz at Yardley, just across the Delaware River from Trenton New
Jersey. This isolated station building
was abandoned some twenty years ago, and overgrowth now reaches to the side of
the building.
Then in Washington state, we visit in our program today another
abandoned radio station, medium wave KXXR-KSVY at Opportunity. The studios and offices were located at 44th
Ave and South Havana St in Spokane, and the 1550 kHz transmitter was installed
in a trailer at East Thorpe Road and Dishman Mica Road at Chester. The radio station trailer in its swampy venue
was abandoned in 1996 and for many years the electronic equipment was still
visible in the dilapidated trailer, though the antenna towers were removed some
time back.
The last abandoned radio station we
visit in our program today is out of order alphabetically, and its story is a
little different also. The studios and
offices for station WCOP AM-FM in Boston were previously located in a building
in suburban Lexington, Massachusetts.
The studios have since gone, and that part of the building is
empty. However, the building still
houses two active medium wave transmitters: Spanish
language WWDJ Boston with 5 kW on 1150 kHz and ethnic station WAZN Watertown
with 1400 watts day and 3400 watts at night on 1470 kHz.
(photo/WGGG Gainesville, FL via Central Florida Radio)
