Last week, radio station WUWM moved to a new facility in the Chase Tower to allow for future expansion and a general upgrade in engineering and production needs.

The station, now located on 111 E. Wisconsin Ave., celebrated its new facility with an “Open Studio” event attended by UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago, WUWM General Manager Dave Edwards, and National Public Radio President and CEO Vivian Schiller.

“I’m delighted to join you,” Santiago said at the event, according to UWM News. “And give you my congratulations for a beautiful facility. I was told that this is the first that WUWM is located outside of a basement.”

The former studio was indeed in the lower floor of The Shops of Grand Avenue’s Plankinton Arcade. There is a lot more space in the station’s new home, providing the opportunity for an upgrade and room for future improvements.

“It’s excellent,” UWM student intern at WUWM Andy Ambrosius said. “There are new studios, microphones, soundproof booths – it’s like a palace compared to the old place.”

The move was made possible partly though listener donations, but the station still needs to raise about $275,000.

Schiller expressed her pleasure with the new facility and stressed the importance of the local programming it provides.

“[WUWM] is that special sauce of local voices, the people here that know the community of Milwaukee, know the audience and know how important it is to deliver original content … integrated with the national programming,” Schiller said.

“You have a station that you can be proud of,” Santiago added.