Cambridge Community Radio in Dorchester County used a Heritage Fund grant to transform a vintage ca. 1930 storefront restaurant into a music venue and radio studio as a new home for their all-volunteer, local radio station.
Cambridge Community Radio, WHCP 101.5, is a local, volunteer-run, non-commercial station that produces talk radio shows, streams just about every style of music, and also uses their studio for concerts and events. The growing station began the process of moving from their smaller location to a larger location in the ca. 1930 storefront on Race Street in downtown Cambridge in 2017.
When Cambridge Community Radio went into the new space they needed to adapt the space, creating sound studios, and making space for their public community events. During this process, the organization found the original knotty pine beadboard underneath layers of drywall and more recent paneling. The team removed and reused all the boards that were salvageable. To replace the boards that were damaged modern replicas were exactly made by a local mill, Warren’s Wood Work, and installed by Kevin Kahl Carpentry.
With the vintage look of the custom paneling, the studio space is nicknamed “Groove City Studios” and used local music and community events. The restored original boards will be used in the office space. The radio station volunteers and visitors dig seeing the past of this site while giving it a unique vibrant new life.
The Heritage Fund is a cooperative effort of Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust to provide direct assistance for the protection of historical and cultural resources in Maryland. The program funds innovative demonstrative projects that can be successfully replicated to meet the Old Line State’s historic preservation needs.