Whatever your moving challenge, it’s nothing compared to the herculean task ahead for CKUA.
The public broadcaster will be moving from the century-old building it has occupied since 1955 on Jasper Avenue and 105 Street to a “new” building, the reassembled Alberta Hotel on Jasper and 97 Street. This is no ordinary office move: CKUA has 60,000 CDs, 72,000 LPs, 11,000 78s, and hundreds of irreplaceable rarities.
Although planning for the move is in the preliminary stages, CKUA chief operating officer Katrina Regan-Ingram said they have already brought in experts from the provincial archives to discuss how to move valuable, breakable items. One hint: don’t stack the LPs, as a single bump in the road could cause breakage.
There will be mixed feelings when CKUA finally vacates the building, home of the oldest working boilers in the province. The building has a certain funky charm – and its own funky aroma – but it’s not a healthy environment. Regan-Ingram, who joined CKUA five years ago, has had to evacuate the building on a number of occasions due to gas leaks and floods.
“From the perspective of having a nice safe, sound and clean working space, I think it’s going to be fabulous,” she said. “But there is the quirkiness and charm of this space — and it has a lot of nostalgia — that people will miss.”
CKUA hopes to be in the new building in late October.
History lesson
•CKUA began in 1927, the first public broadcaster in Canada. •The station was briefly shut down by the province in 1997.
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