Cherished radio station will still move, but to a space more suitable for critics

By Casey Rafter

The scent of dust and decaying adhesive fills a room otherwise plastered from floor to ceiling with show fliers and band stickers. Its rows of vinyl records stand at attention as a volunteer DJ digitally catalogs them. The music library at KDVS 90.3 FM—UC Davis’ student-run radio station—has been collecting discs since the broadcast studio first went on air in 1964. 

Now, in advance of an upcoming move from its historic home in Freeborn Hall, each has to be prepared to survive transportation. But critics of the highly controversial move are  worried that the spirit of the station itself might not survive.. 

Freeborn Hall was deemed structurally unsound in 2018, prompting an initial relocation to a part of campus called “Gun Rock Gaming.” This decision would have restricted KDVS to a third of the space it currently occupies in the basement level of Freeborn Hall. In response DJs, staff, alumni and listeners are worried that  the move wouldn’t be in the station’s best interest.

Plans to move to “Gun Rock Gaming” were then scrapped in favor of a move to a more central part of campus with sufficient room for station operations. According to UC Davis’ Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Sheri Atkinson, KDVS should be able to move into its new home within the next academic year.

“We have been making progress. Moves, such as this large one of a radio station, take some time,” Atkinson said. “We’ve been working alongside students through this whole process. … It took some time to identify the space.”

When Freeborn Hall first shut down, programs housed in the building’s basement were deemed safe to continue operations because of the lower level’s sturdier structure, according to Atkinson.

“We initially determined it was safe enough to do so and that we had some time to move those programs out,” Atkinson said. “We’ve been working on finding new spaces. KDVS, and wanting to maintain their operations, is obviously a very important priority for us.”

KDVS’ exiting general manager Jacob Ikuma has been involved with the station since 2019 as a volunteer, DJ, in-studio producer and assistant GM. Being on core staff the last three years has allowed Ikuma to take over the groundwork  started by the previous two managers in preparation for the move.. Ikuma says the new space in the TB-24 building—which also houses UC Davis’ Bike Barn—leaves KDVS with a net positive.

“At the time I was brought on, there was a lot of uncertainty in what the best solution was going to be,” Ikuma said.

He thinks working with the university, alumni and current DJs ultimately gives KDVS the chance to remain a viable, relevant college radio station going forward.

“This new building really affords us much more than what we would have gotten out of [Gun Rock Gaming] and we’ve been able to get new equipment,” Ikuma said. “It’s just going to be really huge for KDVS’ long term sustainability. We’ll also be … more visible for students.”

KDVS is also  getting modern versions of every piece of equipment integral to broadcasting, including soundboards, CD players and turntables all in an effort to make it a next-generation facility.  

“That’ll also include some sound engineering equipment for recording live music,” Ikuma said. “We have two radio engineers who are working on this project who know the ins and outs of all the equipment [needed].”

UC Davis’ Director of News & Media Relations James Nash is excited that the new location will consist of two broadcast studios, a live performance space, a listening room, an area for the music library and an accessible bathroom. Nash said an investment by UC Davis has made construction and the purchase of new equipment possible. “The University is investing $1.8 million in the new KDVS space,” Nash asserted. “We don’t anticipate any interruptions in the operations of the station.”

Ikuma is confident the new facilities will have custom-built, high-density shelving for KDVS’ famed music library.

“The office where our core staff works is going to be by far the biggest downsize of square footage, but that’s totally fine,” Ikuma said. “The shelves should be able to house all of the music that we have right now and give us a bit of room for growth.”

The station’s live performance space may prove one of the biggest perks to students and musicians. Since Freeborn Hall’s closure, venues on campus have been in such short supply that KDVS has resorted to organizing shows to feature bands inside homes near the campus. Both Ikuma and Atkinson agreed that the competition to book any of the few spots at UC Davis is prohibitive.

“Performance space on campus is a challenge for a lot of different groups,” Atkinson said. “Working with ASUCD, there’s opportunities to do some events with Entertainment Council. … We try to work with all of our student organizations to help them find space for the events they want. There’s just a lot of them and space is limited for those types of things.”

While being able to bring musicians into Studio A has its own charm, Ikuma said that losing Freeborn Hall as a performance space is a huge blow. He said KDVS and other campus organizations would greatly benefit from a more viable venue for hosting ticketable shows.

“That was a space where KDVS and Entertainment Council [could] affordably get a lot of really huge acts to come to Davis,” Ikuma pointed out. “Once Freeborn [Hall] is gone, there really isn’t going to be anything else like that left on campus for media organizations to use.”

This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19.