KCUR and Classical KC will move into an office on the Country Club Plaza, after the University of Missouri-Kansas City signed a two-year lease for the space on Tuesday. The lease begins June 15. UMKC holds KCUR and Classical KC’s broadcast license.
The station has been broadcasting from temporary office space at 4747 Troost Ave. for several months. In December, UMKC told KCUR and other tenants they needed to vacate their longtime office at neighboring 4825 Troost Ave. by the end of January.
“Today’s signing of the lease marks a necessary and positive step toward KCUR’s bright future,” said KCUR general manager Sarah Morris. “I can’t emphasize enough the myriad ways KCUR employees have shown patience, flexibility, creativity and resilience over these past several months of challenges. We are all eager to establish our new home on the Plaza and continue to serve the people of Kansas City.”
KCUR has not yet set an official move-in date for the new office space. In the meantime, broadcast operations remain uninterrupted thanks to the quick work of staff and volunteers to move KCUR out of 4825 Troost Ave. in January, and most staff continue to work remotely.
The complete UMKC press release text is below.
UMKC announced today that KCUR 89.3, the university’s NPR affiliate, will have a new home on the Country Club Plaza, beginning June 15.
KCUR staff and broadcast operations will move into the Park Plaza building on 47th Street, near the Unity Temple, a short distance from their original location at 4825 Troost.
KCUR staff have been working remotely since being notified that their former building at 4825 Troost location needed to close due to a rapidly deteriorating foundation that could have rendered it uninhabitable with minimum notice. With employee safety in mind, the university closed the building on Jan. 31.
“Although the building closure presented challenges, we’re excited to be past that and to confirm that KCUR will be in a new location that is an upgrade for staff and offers convenient access to everything in the Kansas City metro,” said Troy Bruun, UMKC Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration. “We thank KCUR employees for their patience and appreciate the strong outpouring of support from the community as radio station staff have dealt with this unexpected transition to a new facility.”
UMKC explored multiple options for relocating KCUR with its unique space needs. The radio station needed not only office space for its staff, but broadcast facilities to keep its 24/7 news operation on the air. The community responded with an outpouring of support, including dozens of leads on potential office spaces.
Throughout the process of exploring new locations, the top goal of the university and KCUR was to keep their broadcast programming on air and going strong, a goal that was accomplished.
The Plaza lease will give KCUR and its sister station Classical KC a fresh start in a location that will be easily accessible to employees. Station manager Sarah Morris says her team is planning to move in phases during the coming weeks, with top priority being to set up the broadcast studio in the new space.
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