30 Years

[BobOnTheJob]

It's now been 30 years since WFMS left it's long time (first??) studio at 2255 N Hawthorne Lane. I believe Martin Williams lived within a few hundred feet of the site.

 

[317C50KW]

Bob, I seem to recall a fire at the Hawthorn Lane building in the 70's. One of the trade magazines at the time had an article about rebuilding the facility using a pre-fab building (double-wide?).

Do you remember if that happened under Williams' ownership or that of Susquehanna?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

The original location was down town on Meridian... in the Antlers Hotel if my memory is correct. I was never in the original location. I visited the Hawthorne Lane location while it was under constrution.... which I remember was a liesurely paced project. I met Martin there and we had a number of conversations.

That would have likely been in 1966.

I have no memory of a fire at that location (not disputing that there was a fire).... I just can't help you nail down a time for a event that did not get embroidered onto my memory quilt.

I remember that back in the 60's it seems there were regular and routine raids at The Antler to break up poker games that "transgressed the community standards". I always wondered if Martin was part of those games.... or if he even knew they took place.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Goat...I was the first employee of Emmis Broadcasting in 1981 and WFMS was just moving out of what I'd call a pre-fab building that I wouldn't call a palace at 2255 N Hawthorne. It was like an office sized version of a double wide mobile home. WENS lived there for 4 years until a move downtown. Based on the overall feel of the building, I'd have guessed it to be more than just a few years old...it just didn't seem to scream "new" in any way. I never was there prior to 1981 so I'm in the dark as far as any past fire at the site.

 

[speakerman]

95-5 WFMS STAIR-E-O

I remember the cheesy cassette decks sunk into the console furniture and the wires running across the floor you had to be careful not to trip over.

He did his frequency measurement service in the 60s by watching the cone of a woofer move that was DC coupled to see the difference between the
reference and the monitored signal.

A really nice guy that loved to talk to kids about radio.

 

[boomerang]

Answering the questions about the fire on Hawthorne, I cite excerts from the 1992 book by author Philip K. Eberly titled, "Susquehanna Radio: The First Fifty Years".

"With the Williams signature finally on the dotted line and the FCC approval granted, the newly hired manager, Ron Voss, and his crew were ready to do battle in Indianapolis (Thanksgiving week 1972). The WFMS building represented the best physical facility so far of the Company's various acquisitions. Al Saunders says, "It was a nice colonial brick building - a bit cluttered, but nice. We spent some money on renovations, including the installation of an additional studio."

More improvements, however, would have to wait. At 1:53 P.M. on Friday, February 2, 1973, fire swept through WFMS, glutting the entire interior, throwing the station off the air, and setting into motion a heroic effort that was to become Susquehanna engineering's finest hour. Rhonda Hall remembers the fire starting in the storage area. (It was later determined that faulty wiring was the cause.)"

..."On Monday morning, an ad was placed in the Indianapolis newspapers. Its headline read, "WE EXPECTED A WARM WELCOME TO INDIANAPOLIS...BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS." That same day, merely 57 hours after the fire, WFMS was back on the air."

..."Since a radio station requires special construction in terms of acoustics and electrical wiring, Company engineers opted for a custom built, modular configuration. Created by Structures of America in Elkhart, Indiana, the six units that comprised the new WFMS came together within 13 weeks."

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Answering the questions about the fire on Hawthorne, I cite excerts from the 1992 book by author Philip K. Eberly titled, "Susquehanna Radio: The First Fifty Years".

"With the Williams signature finally on the dotted line and the FCC approval granted, the newly hired manager, Ron Voss, and his crew were ready to do battle in Indianapolis (Thanksgiving week 1972). The WFMS building represented the best physical facility so far of the Company's various acquisitions. Al Saunders says, "It was a nice colonial brick building - a bit cluttered, but nice. We spent some money on renovations, including the installation of an additional studio."

More improvements, however, would have to wait. At 1:53 P.M. on Friday, February 2, 1973, fire swept through WFMS, glutting the entire interior, throwing the station off the air, and setting into motion a heroic effort that was to become Susquehanna engineering's finest hour. Rhonda Hall remembers the fire starting in the storage area. (It was later determined that faulty wiring was the cause.)"

..."On Monday morning, an ad was placed in the Indianapolis newspapers. Its headline read, "WE EXPECTED A WARM WELCOME TO INDIANAPOLIS...BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS." That same day, merely 57 hours after the fire, WFMS was back on the air."

..."Since a radio station requires special construction in terms of acoustics and electrical wiring, Company engineers opted for a custom built, modular configuration. Created by Structures of America in Elkhart, Indiana, the six units that comprised the new WFMS came together within 13 weeks."

That was good reading...thanks for sharing it boomerang. So that puts the "new" building at 1973. When I started in on it, it was 8 years old. By the time we were through with it in 1985, it was starting to smell, the floors creaked & I believe some were starting to sag. WFMS did a wise thing by exiting that building after only 8 years...plus the neighborhood wasn't the best. AM 1310 WTUX with the Music Of Your Life later occupied the building. I haven't been back there in many years but understand it eventually became a crack house and has since been bulldozed.