Hey Gang! How are things? Great to hear. Oh I am fine. Could use a haircut though… But enough about me - how about some more info on the new CJSW Broadcast Centre and the annual Funding Drive campaign?

The CJSW Broadcast Centre is nearing completion. Since the last posting, the Phase Two (construction of the new offices for staff and volunteers) has transformed from a skeletal steel shell to a space that is actually looking like a radio station with drywall and paint.

A view from the curved volunteer meeting area. If the bin looks familiar, it is because it was used in one of the Indiana Jones films. Or was it one of the Police Academy films? Part three or part eight? Oh I can’t remember…

Stilts! Without a safety net! Brilliant!

Future news department area. Quilted jacket not included.

Work on the future home of CJSW’s library is also nearing completion, with the final touches on lighting and the ceiling now underway. We will be bringing up the vinyl shelves from our current space up to the new one but new CD shelves will be installed over the next few weeks.

Entrance to the bigger and better CJSW library.

Shelves will wrap around the outside of this room with several “CD islands” built in the middle for programmers to access our musical collection.

It is hard to get excited about a floor drain but when you have been flooded as many times as CJSW has, this is one of the greatest things you will see. If we do get flooded, which should be more unlikely and preventable than before, this drain will help save the day. In fact, the new library shelves will be built with mini-roofs to deflect any precipitation that may wish to visit us from the basement.

What is next you ask? This past weekend, the entire exposed concrete floor of the space was sealed. Finishing touches on electrical and mechanical will take place this week. Mike the Engineer and his crew are still frantically pulling wire to get the studios ready to go on-air. The sound spaghetti is pulled from here:

To here:

Here is a shot of some outlets waiting for “ON-AIR” signs to be stuck to them. Well not stuck-stuck, but bolted and such.

We are aiming to test all of the “systems” in early November and move in shortly after that. Dare I say all will be good to go by mid-November? Stay tuned…

Lastly, Happy Funding Drive. We are about 1/3 of the way through and things are going very well. I want to quickly thank everyone who has supported us so far and all of the CJSW volunteers for their hard work. The tally so far, as of Monday morning, is $75,000. We hope you can support us as we prepare to finish up this grand project and continue to bring you fantastic campus and community radio. If you need more info about the CJSW Funding Drive, please check out www.cjsw.com/funding.html and pledge today.

Pretty much every window in the new CJSW studios is now put securely into place. The oak framed triple pane glass, set at an angle, will help with the acoustics of these rooms. Back in 2001, CJSW was fortunate to get an opportunity to save these windows from the landfill when Corus (which owns QR77, Q107 and Country 105) moved from their old digs downtown at the Palliser Square building. We jumped on the chance to score these sweet windows. They have been sitting in storage all of that time waiting for this day to come. By re-using about 14 windows, we saved a significant amount of money. Thanks Corus again for letting us have access to these windows!

Tilted glass kicks…

View from one Production room into another into the live band studio. The small window on the right looks into the future on-air booth. It was important for the new CJSW digs to have good sightlines to and from each of the studios.

Want a great job? Get one writing titles for design products. Seriously, this is probably one of the most bizarre and fantastic professions around. Writing names for paint colours and carpet tiles is truly an exercise in creativity. ‘Motherlode’ and  ’Silver lining’ are both colours we are using in the studios. ‘Billable Hours’ is a colour we chose not to use.

Here is a sneak peek at the carpet that will be in the new broadcast studios. Please take a guess what it is called and email your answer to CJSW’s station manager. For an added bonus question please guess what the size is of those feet on the carpet. Don’t let the pattern hypnotize you into guessing incorrectly…

And last but not least, VCT or Vinyl Composite Tile. CJSW chairs put quite the dent into the floors so a decent floor tile is a must. DJ’s rolling back and forth, grabbing music, looking for requests, dropping their limited edition Sonic Youth picture platter, etc. can put ruts where no ruts should be. In fact, the current on-air studio has a twelve inch patch worn right through the tile and into the floor. This “hole” first appeared back in 1998 and is now covered with a heavy duty piece of plexiglass that we stole from teh Saddledome. Just kidding. Really. It just showed up one day and we used it before any of the DJS fell through the floor into the basement of ol’ MacEwan Hall.

This VCT is called ‘Lavendar Ash’. If you are a 60’s cover band, please feel free to use this for a band name. If you are a hardcore metal band, maybe refer to the paint chip ‘Motherlode’ for inspiration.

More posts coming at you very soon!

The work on the CJSW Broadcast Centre is now at a fast and furious pace. Phase Two of the construction, which includes the staff offices and volunteer areas, is nearing completion. Wall studs are being erected and windows are being framed and put into place. Here is a view into the Music Director’s future office.

The offices will have windows that both see into the CJSW space and to the outside.

As this is being posted, the drywall and taping of these same walls is happening. Stay tuned for more photos by the end of the week!

Phase Two involves the construction of the CJSW offices.  You see friends, back at the beginning of the year, CJSW only had enough beans to start Phase One. We wanted to ensure that the studios were top-notch and “all that”, ready to rip and be the best studios we could get for the money we had in hand. So we put all of our beans into Phase One. Phase Two was made possible in part by the Students’ Union (see the post below – look for a goofy looking station manager staring at the Quality Money cheque) and some other dough we found in the couch cushions. Now that we have all of the approvals in place (re: the money is in the bank), we can get the Phase Two party started. Insert “woot woot” sound effect here.

This is the space where the future offices of CJSW are going to be. These offices will house the station manager, program director and music director. There will be loads of room for the Office Coordinator, the CJSW Executive, the News department and all of the volunteers that hangout and make radio everyday. Framing is happening this week so stay tuned for more pictures.

The future is coming to these offices.

This ladder is waiting for the framing. Wait no more dear ladder, your dreams are now coming true!!!

…and do not want to scroll to the bottom, here is another look at the plans of the new space:

Things are moving fast dear friends. So fast, in fact, that these blogs are being put up faster that I can type. Drywall is now up, taped, sanded and a primer coat of paint has been waxed on.

Shot taken from the new DJ booth, looking north into the live on-air studio.

View of the entrance to the live band studio.

The curved meeting area. Insulation and cement packs not included.

The view from the DJ booth into the live on-air studios.

Window and door frames are being sized up and slid into place as we write this blog entry. Check it:

Ceiling grids are also being built, putting the final touches on Phase One of this project. Check it twice:

The first wave of serious paint is about to splash onto the walls this week. Installation of the carpet and tile flooring is scheduled to be installed in the new studios by the end of the week. Stay tuned as the glue-sniffin’ is just moments away!

The next series of shots show the calm before the drywall tornado. As you can see, drywall is piled and ready to rip.

Then the winds picked up and SHAZAM!!! – Insulation!!!

As the pink fibreglass-based clouds disappeared, the drywall is on the walls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Followed by far too many exclamation points!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK – The cry to drywall is just one more post away. Here is just one more photo of the ceiling. These springs will suspend the ceiling without actually touch the outside walls. It is as if the ceiling is floating magically above your head while inside each of the studio rooms. It isn’t like Penn and Teller magic but still pretty amazing stuff.

It has been a few weeks since we last posted and with summer quickly coming to an end, we need to catch up on all the developments. Framing of the new studios is pretty much complete and the insulating and dry-walling work is well underway. The studios are now starting to look like real rooms. Take a look at these fabulous snapshots!

These two shots are aimed at the new production room from inside the new on-air booth (top photo) and from the new live band studio (second photo).

We are just so giddy with delight over the idea that air vents will be pumping air into our offices and studios that we have probably taken way too many photos of the ceiling and pipes and tubes and coil units and return units and…

The third photo (above) shows a cable tray and a couple of conduits that will carry the wires (deliciously referred to as the “sound spaghetti”) that will be wired back to the Engineering room. Pretty much all of the wiring in the studio side of the new space will be directly linked back to the engineering room. Mike the Engineer has been making sure that everything is “top-notch”, measuring twice and all that jazz.

Mike has also been seen making sure his noggin’ will fit in the electrical box safely. Safety first dude!!!

 Next post - Drywalled walls and more updates on the Phase Two part of the construction project!