From left, KNVC News Director Lori LeClaire, KNVC Public Relations Coordinator Greg Meyer and KNVC General Manager Steve Funk at the Adams House in Carson City, home to KNVC 95.1 FM, on Monday.
Photo by Scott Neuffer.
Since 2017, Carson City’s community radio station, KNVC 95.1 FM, has broadcast from the historic Adams House in west Carson City. Now, the station’s more than 50 volunteers are raising money to purchase the house and remain in the location.
“This is the most democratic platform for communication that there is,” KNVC General Manager Steve Funk said of community radio. “It is not super expensive to maintain. It is a thing that if people invest in it, what they’re actually investing in is the community for their children and their grandchildren. Keeping a community radio station long-term is like having a security system in your home, a security system that you can also say, ‘Hey, KNVC, play me some blues.’”
Those at KNVC, a nonprofit, are hoping to raise enough funds to purchase the house at 990 N. Minnesota St., that’s currently listed for sale for $425,000. As of Monday, the station had raised $50,000 toward the house, Funk said. He explained the station will adapt if a new location is required, but they would like to stay in the space where the project took root.
A GoFundMe page has been set up, gofundme.com/f/buy-the-house-save-knvc,
and people can use the donate button online at knvc.org or contact Funk directly at Steve@KNVC.org.
“As far as this house goes, this is where we birthed this project,” Funk said. “This has been our home since the first minute of our broadcast day. It feels like home. And what is community? Community is home.”
“We know every wire, we know every plug, every outlet,” said KNVC Public Relations Coordinator Greg Meyer, a volunteer who also hosts two music shows.
According to a news release from KNVC, the Adams House was built by DeWitt Adams from a Sears & Roebuck Catalogue kit in 1922. The craftsman style home was eventually donated to the Carson-Tahoe Hospital Foundation.
“For the past eight years, it has been an honor to support the impactful work of the Brewery Arts Center and KNVC by providing radio studio space,” said Kitty McKay, vice president of community and patient experience at Carson Tahoe Health, which owns the house. “As the healthcare needs of our community continue to grow, we must realign our resources to focus on offering essential patient care. Selling Adams House aligns with our mission as the community’s hospital, and if KNVC is able to purchase the building, we fully support their efforts.”
KNVC offers a variety of local music shows, news programs like “Focus on Carson” and entertainment shows like “Pop Culture Kaboom.”
Funk said the station is in the process of building a news department and more radio theater offerings.
It also plays a role in local emergencies.
“During the Davis Fire — I think that was during our Pop Culture Kaboom event that we had down here — and Steve said, ‘Hey, Greg, can you go help us out?’” Meyer recalled of the Sept. 7 wildfire that started during Kaboom-Con!
Meyer continued: “So I ran up and we got on the air, and Steve gave me the connections to the emergency services and pretty soon I’m talking to the fire department, I’m taking to the police department. I’m talking to everybody, and every 15 minutes, we’re going on the air telling people where the fire is, what roads are blocked, what their evacuation routes are.”
“We did that for eight straight days,” added Funk. “This community of volunteers put aside all the regular pieces of their lives to come in here and make sure that we were on the air 10-12 hours every one of those eight days delivering those live reports.”
Regarding staying put, Funk said KNVC could take on a mortgage if they raise enough for a down payment, but the hope is to buy the Adams House outright.
The backup plan is to partner with local organizations “to share space or to pay a lease into” somewhere, Funk said. Both Funk and Meyer were adamant the station would not go away, half-joking they would take it to a mobile home in the desert if necessary.
“This thing is too important to go sideways,” Funk said.
KNVC personnel expect to have a clearer picture of the future by springtime.
“Our agreement with them (CTH) ends June 30,” Funk said. “So, what we have right now is four and a half months left to get this done. And I kind of feel like we need to see the growth of this campaign coming at a pace that gives us some confidence… hopefully by the end of April we know we can keep the house or that we’re going to have to move on.”