BROADWAY BUILD-OUT
Radio Kingston gets OK to create performance space, media center
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Radio Kingston plans to convert a former auto business garage on Broadway into a community media center and performance space.
The Kingston Planning Board this week unanimously approved a one-year special permit for Radio Kingston Corp., which operates radio station WKNY, to move forward with its plan for the property at 695 Broadway in Midtown. The approval was conditioned on Radio Kingston also receiving approval from the city’s Heritage Area Commission for the facade of the building, as well as providing additional information to the city Planning Office regarding parking, lighting and landscaping, among other requirements.
Kristen Thorne, Radio Kingston’s director of finance and administration, said the plan is to expand the building at 695
Broadway to create a “stage house.”
“This is intended to be a community media center, performance space, workshop space,” Thorne told the Planning Board on Tuesday.
She said the facility would have seating for 66 people, bathrooms, a green room, storage, and a video and control room, among other features. Thorne also said a covered walkway would be created to protect people from the elements and connect the building to a smaller cinderblock structure on site.
There also would be a green space created in front of the building and parking for some radio station vehicles, among other amenities, she said.
The exterior of the structure would be made up of white cinderblock and cedar siding, and one side would be left blank to allow for O+ Festival murals in the future, Thorne said.
In February 2019, Radio Kingston received approval from the Planning Board to build an addition and renovate an existing building at 693 Broadway to create a community space. The approval also included plans for WKNY to move to that facility from its currently leased location at 718 Broadway, diagonally across the street.
Thorne said earlier iterations of the project called for the garage annex on the property to be the performance space, but the footprint of the building proved to be too small due to the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act. She said it “kind of killed” that project.
Since that earlier approval, Radio Kingston has combined the properties at 693 and 695 Broadway into one, along with the property at 13 Franklin St., around the corner.
Radio Kingston Executive Director Jimmy Buff said the business also purchased a parking lot across the street, at the corner of Broadway and Elmendorf Street. He said the lot will be used for the business and during events at 695 Broadway. Visitors during the events will be directed to the parking lot by staff members and signs, Buff said.
Renovations are underway to the building at 693 Broadway, Buff said. He said the first floor of the building will be the broadcast area for the radio station, while the second floor will have administrative offices. Buff said the renovations should be completed in June, after which the radio station will move there from 718 Broadway. The construction of the performance area is to begin after the renovations at 693 Broadway are complete, he said.
Radio Kingston Corp., a nonprofit entity, purchased WKNY from Townsquare Media for $500,000 in a deal that was finalized Oct. 31, 2017. The station’s programming can be heard at 1490 AM and 107.9 FM, as well as online.