If the building that housed
KREX was anything like
my first
backwater affiliate, it was nearly a temple. I mean it. Across the United States, squat brick buildings with aging towers and newer satellite dishes dot our fruited plain. While many resemble old elementary schools, they are in fact broadcast shrines - holy spots where low paid supplicants helped forge the Golden Age of local television. Thus, residents of Grand Junction, Colorado lost more than a spot on the local dial when
KREX burned to the ground today. They lost a piece of their regional history, for the information that’s emanated from 315 Hillcrest Court since has affecting and reflecting its immediate surroundings since 1930. Thankfully, the four employees inside the station at the time of the blaze escaped unscathed but the building is a total loss. Here’s hoping the community will rally around the gutted site and help staffers reestablish the signal that helps make that part of Colorado so distinctly its own. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be checking the smoke detector batteries above my cubicle.
3 comments:
I wish I could see my old station looking like that. Some are broadcast shrines, others are pitiful hoarders of slave labor looking to make a quick buck.
Tru Dat.
But Still, I like to look past the whip-holders and focus instead on the hearts and dreams of all those captive souls inside. Perhaps I should write greeting cards.
Maybe one day you can visit the marbled corridors of the Deuce here in Baton Rouge. Then you can see why some call it the Taj Mahal of local broadcasting. I'll have to get some pics of it and post them on my blog.
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