By Connie Leinbach
The old Ocracoke Firehouse at Back Road and Sunset Drive has been undergoing a transformation and should be ready soon to house the Ocracoke School shop class and new quarters upstairs for the island’s community radio station WOVV 90.1 FM.
Now in its sixth year of broadcasting, WOVV is hoping to move into these spacious new quarters in the next several weeks.
Before that, architects and workers are completing the rooms, which will triple its space from its current location beside the Anchorage Marina, said Greg Honeycutt, board president.
Construction started in July and because it is a school building, renovation plans needed various state agency approvals.
“The association with the school will give us the ability to get more students involved,” Honeycutt said.
The transmitter has always been located at the new site. Having the studio and transmitter together will increase signal reliability and quality.
A capital campaign to help finance the new quarters is continuing because the station needs to raise about $20,000 more than their original plan of $70,000 because of handicap accessibility requirements.
These include an elevator chair lift and a wheelchair-accessible bathroom.
Another big capital expense is a stand-alone generator that will allow the station to continue broadcasting during emergency situations and occasional power outages.
The generator and propane tank will cost $12,000.
In addition to broadcasting 90.1 FM on the island, the station streams online at http://wovv.org where interested donors can also get information.
A new deck is installed.
Why do I think Clayton is going to have some work for me to do while I’m there over the holidays?
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