Radio Kingston moves to 21st-century studios in a 19th-century building.
Totally reimagined, gut renovated, and outfitted with every conceivable 21st Century technological advantage, the building was completed in June 2021 and broadcast operations began there in July 2021. “One of the reasons we wanted this space was the super-sized windows facing Broadway. We imagined people seeing us and us seeing them while we made radio for our city and it was quickly apparent that concept had been turned into reality when we started working in the new studios,” said Jimmy Buff, executive director of Radio Kingston.
The octagonal Bonesteel House was built in 1855 at 693 Broadway just across the street from the station’s longtime location at 718. Working with global architectural/acoustic design/systems integration firm (and Hudson Valley neighbors) WSDG (Walters-Storyk Design Group) the building was re-conceived to be as advanced as possible, with audio/video and energy systems developed to carry the community radio station’s content to Kingston’s 24,000-plus residents. Originally a private residence, the building passed into commercial use sometime in the 1900’s. “Making the place structurally sound not only for the purposes of containing a radio station but also for its historic value was paramount for us,” Buff said.
(Image credit: Joseph Janisheski)
Another goal of Radio Kingston’s was to keep as much of its resources in the community as possible.
The Radio Kingston staff knew architect/acoustician John Storyk and WSDG by reputation and personally. While WSDG is worldwide in scope, Storyk and the WSDG team were just down the road in Highland, NY, and have kept involved with a variety of recent high-profile local projects as well.
“During our initial meeting we walked through the Bonesteel House (vacant for several years at that point,) and found ourselves pretty much on the same page in all the key areas and agreed to work together on the design with WSDG,” said Buff.
“By optimizing the entire existing 910 SF earmarked for the first-floor studios, WSDG developed an ‘open space’ on the second floor encompassing offices, including a conference room and kitchen.”
(Image credit: Joseph Janisheski)
“Radio Kingston’s new studios utilized an “adapt-and-reuse” approach to repurposing the original two-story octagon building,” explained WSDG partner/project manager, Matthew Ballos. “The building had excellent bones, but its unusual eight-sided configuration and center-floor fireplace/chimney presented a considerable challenge to space optimization. Fortunately, a close inspection of the fireplace assured us that the chimney had no structural significance. This welcome news enabled us to remove it entirely and provided open space to house a 250 SF On-Air/Live Studio,160 SF Talk Studio, 75 SF Talk Studio Control Room, and a 100 SF Production Room. We also added a third floor-to-ceiling window and replaced all that glass with double-paned soundproof material,” Ballos added.
“The sound—or lack of—inside the studios is like nothing I’ve ever experienced”, said Buff. “There was major road construction just outside the studios last year when we moved and while you could feel it—the ground literally shook—you couldn’t hear it,” Buff said.
“Radio Kingst