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Flood-displaced KRUI returns to its old home

By Cole Cheney

While students move refrigerators and wastepaper baskets into University of Iowa dorms, their parents might lull between nostalgic and alienating sentiments. “I also ate at Burge Hall,” and “wait, Phillips Hall doesn’t hold business classes anymore?” echo from alumnus as they discover a campus that is an incomplete picture of their alma mater. As of this week, however, their favorite collegiate radio station once again broadcasts from its original home for the first time in 20 years: Quadrangle Residence Hall.

Progressing from the call letters KWAD to KICR to KRUI, 89.7 FM has established a 56-year repertoire of rock, alternative and independent music along with an array of student and community member commentary.

After a mere 15 minutes spent off air on June 14, just before the Iowa River engulfed the Iowa Memorial Union, (KRUI studios were located on the IMU’s third floor) , the 100 watt student-operated radio station managed to stay on the air this summer with a remote Slater Residence Hall location and fully automated programming.

After the Monday transition, however, the eager staff and new location are facilitating the university radio station’s transition from bare-bones summer survival toward thriving radio-wave prominence.

“We plan on returning to fully regular programming with some minor adaptations,” says UI junior Nathan Gould, KRUI’s general manager, during a tour of the new facilities in 1102 Quadrangle Hall. (The station formally operated in South Quadrangle Hall across the street.) He doesn’t appear as naturally comfortable as he might have at the Iowa Memorial Union base, though he still laughs affectionately as he points out the KRUI’s staff-built chair pyramid and “the room with funky smelling carpet.”

Located behind the study lounge in Quadrangle Hall, the new location features barren white walls that provide little hint of their broadcasting past. The floor, however, is littered with transmission chords, CD cases and yellow KRUI stickers and the dormitory carpet will soon be covered by new couches, desks and computers.

“I’ve been told that the IMU will not open for another six months, so we need to make this home,” Gould says, noting that advertising and student applications for DJ slots and other jobs at the station have remained consistent with numbers from previous years.

Using a 70s-era wooden soundboard to control output and a NexGen computer to play promos, advertisements and public service announcements, the newest KRUI studio flaunts a Quadrangle volleyball court view though it lacks space for live performances unique to the frequency. Previous in-studio performers have included Brother Ali, Ghostly and Grand Archives.

Production equipment and director offices will remain much as they did at the station’s IMU location; the only damaged piece of equipment was a moldy refrigerator.

Beyond hardware similarities, the student-run station is also re-attracting DJs and shows from previous broadcast seasons. The Amaza Show, Grumpy Old Grad Students and (in)organic are among those scheduled to return.

“No one sees the studio or equipment, and it’s our job to make (the audience) think that nothing has changed,” says Chae Centeno, a regular rotation DJ. “I can’t wait until I can get on air to start playing my music to let new students know that flood or not, we still have an amazing radio station.”

The volunteer-run New Orleans station 88.3 WRBH faced a similar challenge after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. The nonprofit station that broadcasts readings for the blind was off the air for seven weeks.

“As a native that survived tragedy, I felt a sense of urgency get my station up immediately to broadcast important messages and to show that we cannot be washed away,” says WRBH executive director Natalia Gonzalez. “I hope that instead of sulking, victims of natural disaster use the situation to reinvent themselves and their surroundings.”

In the case of Gould and the KRUI staff, a natural disaster is no excuse to interrupt FM progress.

“I really felt like we were in a movie when the water struck,” Gould says, standing on the roof of the 13-story Slater Residence hall while surveying the defiant KRUI antenna towering over the now-tamed river.

“Now I’m ready to get the station running at full capacity.”