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| 8/14/2008 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | KSJD makes waves with Basin project
Dryland radio effort will revitalize historic Cortez building
Hope Nealson
Journal Staff Writer
Approximately 60 Dryland Community Radio disc jockeys are one step closer to making their way to downtown Cortez in the historic Basin Industrial Bank Building.
A capital campaign kicked off last week with an open house in the landmark bank building to fund "Cornerstone," a rural community development project that aims to give voice to the ideas and talents of Cortez while moving Dryland Community Radio, currently KSJD, from the San Juan Basin Technical College to downtown.
"We wanted to be more accessible, to bring community radio into the heart of the community," said Jeff Pope, executive director of Community Radio Project, which oversees the project and Dryland Community Radio.
"We're shooting to be broadcasting downtown in the fall of 2009," Pope said, noting the 3,600-square-foot property located at Market and Main streets in downtown Cortez was filled with about 40 supporters.
"It was really exciting to see so many elders that remembered what the building was - to honor the local history and people who have been here a long time and have a lot to say," said Cornerstone Capital Campaign Chair Laura Hawes. "That meant a lot to me as a younger person and a new person (in the area)."
People started working on the project six years ago when Community Radio Project was created to save public radio in Cortez, Pope said.
"A hundred people showed up right here (to save the radio station)," he said. "It's a nice turn of events where we now have the opportunity to turn this location into a place where the Community Radio Project can operate.
"We're standing on the shoulders of the people who have worked so hard to make Cortez what it is today and invested their time and energy."
Many Cortez old-timers attended the capital campaign kickoff, sharing their memories of the 100-year-old building.
According to Frank Pyle, president of the Cortez Historical Society, the Lett brothers owned the bank originally in 1908.
"I was born in 1938, and when I was a young man it was the First Citizens State Bank in the '30s and '40s," Pyle said. "Wheelers Market had the building next to it in the teens."
The Democratic headquarters currently resides in that adjoining building, covering 1,500 square feet of the property.
Pyle applauded Community Radio Project's decision to purchase the Basin Industrial Bank Building, which has changed hands many times by owners like the Harrisons, R.N. Usher, Pete Dunlap, the Stockdales - and most recently the McAfees.
"There are a lot of buildings that could be bought and utilized for the radio station, but not all with the history and meaning of this one," Pyle said, adding it follows in the footsteps of other successful Cortez restorations, such as the Calkins building, the Wilson building and the Cortez Cultural Center.
"We lose part of our culture when we lose some of these old buildings," he said.
San Juans Citizen Alliance resides in the bank side of the property, which will provide space for at least two nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses, as well as a common space for the arts.
"We're not sure who will manage it yet, but we've heard from the public that they want a place for people to gather, and that's what we want to promote," Hawes said. "The more expression and creativity in our community, the more lively it will be."
Pyle added the Historical Society of Cortez, which will continue to volunteer for the project, hopes to procure an eventual Cornerstone office for their research and genealogy studies.
Deb Avery, executive director for the Cultural Center, said using the building will help improve downtown Cortez. The Cultural Center is located a block away from the Basin Industrial Bank Building.
"Anytime a building is salvaged and brings people in, it's a good thing," Avery said. "It gets more people downtown eating lunch."
Hawes said that with volunteers and DJs traveling as far away as Rico and Dove Creek, it will be good to have their offices centrally located in the county.
"I think it will be nice for downtown to have that increase of traffic and activity - the events and energy that go on around a radio station," she said.
Approximately $800,000 is needed to renovate the building, bringing the total expenditure to $1 million.
"The whole figure sounds daunting, but a lot of it is coming from grant sources that have been identified," said Hawes, who has been working on the project since March.
"We are in conversation with potential donors and have been for some time," she said. "An immense amount of groundwork has been laid."
According to Hawes, six volunteers are dedicated to the fundraising goal, along with all eight Community Radio Project board members and numerous volunteers.
"We get a lot of input from the big base of DJs and friends of the radio," Hawes said. "Board members have really made an effort to reach out to resources in the community and the region to help us be successful."
The Colorado Economic Development Commission recently designated the Cornerstone project an enterprise zone contribution project, which gives tax credits to contributors.
The designation will help in the construction and renovation of the building, giving 25 percent state tax credits on cash donations and 12.5 percent state tax credits on in-kind donations, according to Laura Lewis of Region 9 Economic Development District.
Pope said they expect the Colorado State Historic fund and other foundations to cover the majority of costs, with 20 percent of funds coming from local sources.
In addition to restoring the building in compliance with the Colorado State Historic Register, energy efficiency will be a priority, Pope said.
"It's ordinary people doing extraordinary things," he said. "We're not the savior; we're a piece of it. Everyone is doing their part."
Reach Hope Nealson at hopen@cortezjournal.com.
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