Former campus radio station revamped
In the basement of Guild Hall, the forgotten KJNB radio station will be open for student use. The music library holds thousands of tracks.
Next Wednesday, a new study space will open in the basement of Guild Hall. SJU senior Cole Milz has taken lead in restoring the old radio station in Guild Hall to be a study spot with upwards of 10,000 records. The space used to be an active radio station about five years ago called KJNB. As interest fell, the area became more and more forgotten and is now nearly unknown as an effect of the COVID pandemic. But with the presence of working recording studios, a record player, CD player, aux cable and thousands of options to listen to, Milz hopes that it will attract students once again.
“It’s barely known by anyone on campus,” Milz said. “It’s kind of one of those things where, when I can, I show people the space.”
Milz got the idea two summers ago when he was working for IT Services at St. John’s. His job as Audio Productions Manager for Johnnie-Bennie Media (JBM) exposed him to the different areas of the Guild Hall basement. The area had virtually nothing in it when Milz started. With the help of JBM and IT coworkers, he scrapped the radio equipment and obtained furniture from various places, such as the Virgil Michel building and sales around campus. Now, it is a clean, artistic domain that even has a disco ball. The music aspect is one of the highlights of the room. With a plethora of records from the ‘80s, ‘60s and even ‘50s, students will be able to discover new music—some of which aren’t available on any platform today.
“There’s probably a few of them that are completely forgotten music,” Milz said. “The reason why the collection is so big is because people would send demo tapes and demo vinyls to the radio station and ask them to play it on air.”
Students can also easily record audio in the two recording areas of the room, which are already set up with microphones and a direct computer input. Milz himself is currently recording a “Dungeons and Dragons” podcast. Milz is graduating this spring and hopes this renovated room gets passed on after he leaves. He says the next JBM Audio Productions manager will be in charge of the space.
“It’s been so underutilized; I just want to see it become something again,” Milz said.
Students are welcome to visit the space anytime. Milz will be holding an open house on Feb. 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors will be able to come in, listen to records and learn more about the history of the radio station.