New radio station typical of ‘creative’ businesses transforming gritty Railtown streetscape
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Photograph by: Arlen Redekop , Vancouver Sun
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A new community radio station is set to go to air at a warehouse-turned-office and studio space in Vancouver’s Railtown in a move that the stakeholders say will give a cultural and economic boost to the gritty but emerging Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.
Roundhouse Radio, expected to launch this summer, will be a commercial FM community talk and music station. The station’s management, which claims it will bring 30 to 40 jobs to Railtown, leased a renovated space at 704 Alexander St. for their street-level studio digs.
Japanese property firm KM Pacific Investments purchased the building, formerly a warehouse, two years ago and has leased more than 40 per cent of the overhauled space to Roundhouse, which will take over the entire 6,000-square-foot ground floor.
“We’re right among a mixed community that’s a cross-section of everything going on in Vancouver, which I think is relevant for a station that’s all about the streets, all about the city,” Roundhouse CEO Don Shafer said in an interview.
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