Alan asked if I should ever find a picture of the old WSBS studio building to publish it. Here it is:
I found this above the coffee machine in the lobby, nicely matted and framed. I didn’t want to ruin the framing job, so I took a picture of the picture under glass and cropped it, so thus the quality could be better.
I believe this is the original tower from 1959. The current tower stands on a taller concrete pedestal and is further away from the road. I think the roadway was widened and raised at some point, thus the new building sits higher in relation to the tower base. In any case, it little bit of radio history.
I didn’t realize the tower was replaced. I had always believed it was the original tower from 1959.
When was the current tower put in, and does it say who built it?
That building looked like that well into the 80’s before 105.1 was put on the air. I remember during the construction, them joking in the studio about the hammers. The addition was put on right before 105.1 went on the air. The old STL tower was a small guyed tower directly behind the studio building. It was replaced for the cell tower on a “compromise” from the town. As I understand it, the old 105.1 tower still stands on Catamount. (WAMC moved 105.1 to a higher tower on the same hill.)
Mike, It looks like the same tower, but it appears to be in a different place in relation to the road and studio. Also, the current tower sites on a 8-10 foot high pedestal, which I do not see in this picture. Perhaps I am wrong…
There is another tower base and two guy anchor points out in the field, closer to the building (south and slightly east of current tower). Perhaps that is the old STL tower? It would be interesting to see another old picture taken from the northern side of the studio.
I just got to thinking, you know who would know this answer is Paul Willey. I have to see if I can find his email address and ask him.
I have a very poor photograph of the WSBS building with the old STL tower next to it here.
http://www.necrat.us/wsbs-3.JPG. The STL tower was guyed, and it sat almost directly behind the building, but a little ways, and was towards the north side of the backside.
Tom Jaworski (RIP), had once told me when he gave me the tour a few years back that the tower was the original, a “Marconi” tower (not sure if that was the manufacturer, or the style.) It’s a series fed tower, correct?
I visited the station once in the early ’80s when it looked like that. My then-wife and I had just moved to Western Mass in 1981 (she got a teaching job in nearby Huntington, I was on WMAS Springfield), and we set out one Saturday on our motorcycle just to see what was on the other side of the mountains. When we rode by the tower, we swung back and banged on the door. A poor clueless weekender answered the door, and after a few moments of my sweet-talking her, gave me the 43-second tour of the station. You’d never see that happen today or ever again.
Its an apocryphal story I’m sure , but I remember hearing once that Gene Shalit was lounging up in the Berkshires when he was contacted by NBC to voice something important for them and have the reel shipped to NY. He was told that WSBS was down the street and he could use their recording gear. Word has it he drove by the station a couple of times and called NBC back, saying he passed “the tower site”, but couldn’t find the studios. THAT’S how small the place was!