Just days after news broke that the parent company of the Cape and Islands NPR station would be selling its building in Woods Hole, a nonprofit is launching a fundraising campaign to keep the historic building as the home of the local radio station.
The Woods Hole Community Association on Sunday voted to set aside $300,000 to help start fundraising in an effort to make an offer on the Water Street building, known as the Captain Davis house. The historic property which dates back to the 1800s has housed Cape and Islands (CAI) radio since its founding in 2000.
Residents in the listening area, including Islanders, have also started a letter-writing campaign to encourage GBH, the parent company of CAI radio, to wait 30 days before going through with the sale to give the community association time to make an offer.
“This is not just another summer house sitting there,” said community association president Catherine Bumpus. “The radio station serves an incredibly important need to the whole region and this is an activity that brings extra value to the village. Our goal is to keep the radio station in that space.”
News broke last week that GBH, citing a deficit at the local station and noting struggles in the journalism industry in general, had reached a purchase and sales agreement with a private buyer for the Captain Davis house. GBH, in a statement, said that they would look for an alternative location for the radio station.
But the news came as a surprise to officials at the local station, including its founder, Jay Allison. Allison, who created “The Moth” and other popular radio programming, told The Times that he was disappointed with GBH’s decision and hoped the Boston-based nonprofit would have told the local community first before reaching a purchase and sales agreement.
“I’m so proud of the village for stepping up,” Allison said about the recent announcement from the local community association to try and purchase the building. “This demonstrates what could have happened if WGBH had approached the community and listeners first, with transparency. Faith in the local community could have prevented a loss of trust.”
Bumpus said the community association has made similar purchases of historic properties in the past in order to keep them within the community. The association owns and operates a number of buildings that serve a community benefit including a community hall, an old fire station and the Woods Hole School. She said that the realtor that approved a purchase and sales agreement with GBH has encouraged them to make an offer as well. She noted that the asking price for the Captain Davis property was $1.9 million.
Bumpus said that if they are able to purchase the property, they would work with GBH to reach an agreement to keep CAI in the building; if they can’t reach that agreement, they’ll find another community use for the property.
GBH President and CEO Susan Goldberg said in a statement, “We have accepted an offer but anyone may provide a backup bid.”
Meanwhile, several locals have sent letters to GBH executives, as well as The Times, citing their frustrations over the decision and with the hopes that they would delay finalizing the purchase until the community association can raise funds for a counter offer.
Jeremy Berlin, a Vineyard piano player and manager with Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, was one such letter writer who noted his appreciation for CAI radio.
“As a musician in a long time Martha’s Vineyard band, Woods Hole has been an integral part of my life, and for the past quarter century, so has the radio station,” Berlin said. “I played at the founding party, and for many events since, and I rely on the presence and knowledge of the station’s central place in the community that gives it credibility and gives us comfort and stability.”
The Captain Davis house was originally built in 1840 and was renovated in 2009, using $267,000 in Community Preservation funds.
