Springfield - WBZA Site.

[k1map@juno.com (Mark Casey)]

The WBZA site in East Springfield is part of the Springfield Industrial
Park. A large local trucking company has a long term lease on Building A
- -- the one with the WBZA towers. They currently use the 4 story building
as a warehouse.
In addition to the building's history as site of WBZ, it was built as
part of the Stevens Duryea Automobile Co. Complex -- America's first
manufacturer of automobiles.
The building was in pretty good shape when I went throught it about 5
years ago. We took a look at the towers, and they are built of heavy
structural steel, and in good shape as well. 
The wire between the two towers broke several years ago, but if you look
closely, you can see it hanging down along the side of one of the towers.
The old WBZ station room was an add-on to the building. It is up along
the third or fourth floor and was in very poor shape when I looked at the
building.
I've looked at using the towers for a commercial AM, but a management
company in New York owns the complex, which is leased to the Trucking
Co., and this has been a problem for a third party to use the towers.
It's still not a bad idea for a historical complex there -- the Indian
Motrocycle Museum , and the Smith & Wesson firearms plants are a couple
blocks away.
Springfield is now trying to deal with Ct riverfront development, getting
a baseball team, etc.,so they have their hands full. But a
Broadcast-Automobile-Motorcycle-Firearms  Museum all in one large
building sounds like a great idea for sometime in the future.
Building A is huge. You could probably put 4 museums and a Quincy Market
type shopping complex in there and still have room.

Mark Casey     K1MAP     FN32sb                   Hampden, Mass - -just
east of Springfield


>
>>Maybe the city or some private group should try to buy the site and 
>>set up a museum of New England broadcasting there. 


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