KCUR ordered to vacate after one-month notice due to building conditions

  KCUR was left without a permanent home after being ordered to leave its longtime offices as building conditions worsened, with plans for a new Plaza location still in progress.

  The station had resided in the building owned by UMKC on 4825 Troost Ave. since 1985.

  Madeline Fox, interim news director at KCUR, said that it was not a shock that the building would not hold up for much longer, but the timeline in which they had to leave was a surprise.

  “A lot of the uncertainty has been challenging,” Fox said. “The university announced last week they had come to terms with the building on the Plaza to potentially move us there. The lease is not signed, so it’s still in process.”

  KCUR’s Union, We Make KCUR, released a statement to Roo News regarding the move.

  “Working from home and temporary offices has put a strain on our resources and collaboration. Still, we have continued to serve Kansas City with the news and stories we always have despite the challenging work conditions,” the statement said. “We appreciate the long hours and hard work KCUR’s broadcast operations and lead team have put in to secure us a new space.”

  While there is news about the proposed location, many important details are still up in the air.

  “Despite the university putting out a press release congratulating itself on our team finding a new office, a lease has yet to be signed. And much is still unknown, including a timeline for the move and how it will impact KCUR’s financial situation, as we believe UMKC will expect the station to be financially responsible for the relocation and the rent in our new offices,” the union said.

 Kevin Rivera, a freshman biology student, thinks the timeline of the move was “pretty unfair” considering concerns about the building were known.

  At the start of the moving process, the typical live newscasts had to be pre-recorded for around a week.

  “We can’t do things instantaneously because we’re human, but we can do things more instantaneously without that kind of delay, so that was an adjustment, and I’m glad that we don’t have to make an adjustment anymore,” Fox said.

  Along with specialized equipment, the staff had to move personalized aspects of their offices, as “people had made a home there.”

  “Each of our individual reporters and editors and people had brought all kinds of stuff to their offices, just because that’s a building without that many windows, especially in our part of it, and so we’d done a lot to just kind of make it feel like home and make it feel welcoming in our own space,” said Fox. 

  The necessity of a suitable home for KCUR was expressed by Arwa Janjua, a freshman psychology student. She was unaware of the move, but believes the location of the new offices matters in the context of what the city requires.

  “Because Kansas City is so well known, like a lot of people live in this area, I feel like it’s important to make sure all people feel heard and it be put in a place where it’s accessible to everyone,” said Janjua.

  Fox said that the Plaza location seems suitable for the needs of both the station and employees, considering the short notice.

  “That was really my top concern was, ‘can we have a studio space and reporting space and enough places there for as many people as possible to work. And then can people get there?’” said Fox.

  Plans for what will be done with the old offices have not yet been made known.

  Although the move has caused a lot of chaos, Fox mentions that the outpour of community support as well as the staff’s efforts toward continuing to do their jobs well, was “really heartening.”

  “You don’t get a lot of opportunities as a journalist, necessarily, for people to tell you that you’re doing really awesome. A whole bunch of that was really, really nice and really needed.”

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