PORT TOWNSEND — The erection of a 190-foot-tall broadcast tower near the end of Jacob Miller Road on Thursday brought the establishment of a community radio station closer to reality.
“We’re really excited about this,” said Ann Katzenbach, KPTZ 91.1 FM board member.
“The fact that the tower is up shows that we are committed.”
The on-air date has been postponed several times, but the current target is to begin broadcasting about the middle of May.
“We’ve had a lot of glitches, like finding out that we need a permit that we didn’t know about,” Katzenbach said.
“But we think we can make this goal.”
The station is confident enough to have scheduled a kickoff party at 7 p.m. May 14 at the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St., as a fundraiser and introduction to the community.
So far, the station has raised $225,000 of the $275,000 it will need to go on the air, said board member Collin Brown.
Other introductory events include two studio tours for contributors tomorrow, March 20, and Friday, March 25, and an open house for the public from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 1 at the studio at Mountain View Commons, 1925 Blaine St.
Katzenbach said KPTZ has a database of about 600 interested people and about 30 people have expressed interest in volunteering at the station.
The studio, housed in a temporary classroom in what used to be the Mountain View School, has an on-air booth, performance studio and production space, all recently constructed.
The broadcast booth and the studio are soundproofed to eliminate ambient noise or the occasional siren that originates from the police station, which is next door.
KPTZ’s position on the FM dial is near that of another Port Townsend radio station aiming to be on the air this year, KROH 91.9 FM.
KROH, which is slightly behind KPTZ in its path to the air, is a Christian station whose call letters stand for “Radio of Hope.”
Board Chairman Glenn Gately said the station is now installing electrical equipment and hopes to erect its tower near Discovery Bay in the next few months.
Gately doesn’t have an on-air projection for the station, which has been streaming online since 2009 at www.radioofhope.org.
“We’re pretty close, but we always find out about things that need to get done,” he said.
KROH needs about $50,000 to meet its fundraising goal, Gately said.
Donation to KPTZ can be made online at www.kptz.org, or checks can be sent by mail to Radio Port Townsend, P.O. Box 2091, Port Townsend, WA 98368.
Those interested in volunteering can e-mail nancy@kptz.org.
KROH donations can be made online or by mail, with checks sent to KROH — Radio of Hope, P.O. Box 1882, Port Townsend, WA 98368.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
