[BC] VOA BUILDING'S FATE ON THE LINE

[DavidSnyde@aol.com]

Saturday, November 19, 2005

VOA building's fate on line
Trustees must decide if $1.2M fix-up cost is worth it

By Jennifer Edwards
Enquirer staff writer

The Voice of America building in West Chester Township is in need of 
$1.2 million in repairs. If they are not made, the building may have 
to be torn down. Trustees must decide what to do.

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Leaders must decide soon whether to sink major 
money into the Voice of America building that was the scene of 
historic radio broadcasts across the world through several wars.

Otherwise, the 61-year-old structure will continue crumbling and 
might need to be torn down.

"This is urgent. We have to put at least $1.2 million into it to keep 
the building standing or walk away from it," Township Trustee 
Catherine Stoker said.

"The walls will start breaking apart. It will become too dangerous."

The VOA's Bethany Station is on 330 acres of park property along 
Tylersville Road, between Butler-Warren and Cox roads.

The station began relaying news and entertainment around the world in 1944.

While broadcasters delivered reports from Washington and New York, 
the signals were relayed to the Tylersville Road station in West 
Chester and broadcast in more than 50 languages, waging war on Nazi 
Germany's radio propaganda.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the station closed in 1994.

The federal government gave West Chester Township the two-story brick 
building with the understanding the township would convert it into a 
museum to honor its legacy.

But those plans were iced by the failure of a 2003 township park levy 
and the recent rejection for a national grant.
Now, money is immediately needed to replace the heating, air 
conditioning and electrical systems and exterior masonry, Stoker said.

About a dozen people are in the building daily, mostly township 
employees. At night, 30 to 40 people from community groups use the facility.

Offices there include the township's parks, recreation and cultural 
arts department, American Red Cross, NAACP, and the Veterans Voice of 
America Fund, a non-profit group established to raise money to turn 
the building into a museum. They also run the VOA gift shop.

The West Chester Amateur Radio Association operates an amateur radio 
station in the building, give tours of the facility and helps with 
some repairs.

Also housed there are the Gray Wireless antique radio collection 
previously displayed at WGUC-FM, and the Media Heritage collection of 
early radio equipment and shows.

On Nov. 5, a transformer inside a light fixture on the first story 
shorted out and smoldered, a fire report shows. There were no damages 
or injuries. Those who work in the building say they feel safe, but 
are dismayed.

"It's sad to see the deterioration," said Barb Wilson, parks events 
coordinator. "It would be a real loss and real shame to lose a 
structure with such significance. It is a real treasure in the 
community and an important part of our national history."

Veterans Voice of America has raised nearly $100,000 for renovations.

They recently paid $50,000 toward a new heating system in the 
building, but that will only cover about 25 percent of the structure, 
said Stoker, also a founding board member of the Veterans Voice of America.

Township Trustee Jose Alvarez also said the building should be saved, 
though he is not certain it needs the full $1 million in repairs all at once.

E-mail <mailto:jedwards at enquirer.com>jedwards at enquirer.com.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051119/NEWS01/511190391/1056




  - - - -
You are reading the BROADCAST Mailing List for broadcast professionals:

This mailing list is also available in digest form (messages are 
combined into a "digest" ... which can be helpful if you want to 
reduce the load on your "in-box").

TO SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE:
Log into: http://lists.radiolists.net/mailman/listinfo/broadcast

**** FOR CHANGES IN SERVICE
Log into: http://lists.radiolists.net/mailman/listinfo/broadcast
... go to the very bottom of the page, enter your email address, and 
click on "Edit Options."