WUKY Celebrates First Day of Broadcasting From Its New Home
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 19, 2018) — The voices are the same, but their location has changed — and modernized. WUKY 91.3 FM, the University of Kentucky's NPR station, started broadcasting from its new studios today on Spurr Road in Lexington. The programming and announcers are the same, but the facility is a far cry from the station's old home on the third floor of McVey Hall on UK's campus -- studios that were originally built in 1939.
"This is a game-changer for WUKY and the community," said Tom Godell, WUKY's general manager. "Not only do we have brand new state-of-the-art broadcast gear, we also have more studio and production space than before, allowing us to produce more news programs, more live music, and more community events."
WUKY now has more than double the square footage in this new facility, which had been a professional recording studio and living quarters. The property was acquired by Lexington businesswoman Ann Bakhaus, who in turn, with her son Michael Russell, made a gift of the building to UK for the benefit of WUKY and UK's Opera Theatre program in the School of Music in the College of Fine Arts. Opera Theatre will share the recording studio with WUKY.
"Our recording studio can accommodate up to 49 people, which means we can host intimate, live indoor concerts," Godell said. "And our back lawn is simply breathtaking, so stay tuned for live outdoor concerts, too! The studios are easily accessible from I-75 and New Circle Road, and there’s plenty of parking. So, it will be easy for musicians, interview guests, and volunteers to come and participate in our programs and other activities."
WUKY plans to welcome the campus and Central Kentucky communities to the radio station in the spring. An open house is planned for Saturday, May 26, with live music, studio tours, outdoor games, refreshments and more.
"All this would not have been possible without Ms. Ann Bakhaus who donated this beautiful facility to UK and the university administration, which made the renovations possible," Godell said.
The last of the moving process took place Friday, March 16, and over the weekend. WUKY's last live broadcast from McVey Hall took place at 6 p.m. Friday and was streamed live on Facebook. Today's live programming from the new studios started at 6 a.m. with WUKY's news and NPR's "Morning Edition" followed by WUKY's "Rock and Roots" and more afternoon news and NPR's "All Things Considered."