CBC puts central Newfoundland operations under one roof
Thursday was moving day — and a moving one, too — for CBC employees in central Newfoundland, as the public broadcaster consolidates its operations in Gander.
Staff at the old CBG studio on Sullivan Avenue in Gander packed up their boxes to move to new leased space at the Gander Mall.
As well, a few positions at a small bureau in Grand Falls-Windsor have been transferred to the new digs.
Former staff at the Gander station gathered Thursday to say goodbye to the building, and to wish contemporary colleagues well.
"Back in the '60s and '70s there was a lot of live recording [that] went on here [with] live music. The various shows would bring in bands," said Mike Aucoin, a retired radio host.
Melissa Tobin, a journalist who has worked on the Central Morning Show for the last three and a half years, said she loved making discoveries in the building.
"It's going to be sad to leave here for the final time," she said.
"You see pictures around, you see razor blades in drawers that I didn't know what they were for when I started working at the CBC but that's how people used to actually cut tape."
For former CBC videojournalist David Zelcer, the closure of offices in Grand Falls-Windsor isn't ideal.
"It's the end of an era in Grand Falls, there's no doubt about it. I mean, Grand Falls-Windsor is not going to have a CBC reporter on the ground there for the first time in decades," he said.
"It's the end of an era there — it's sad."
CBC management says the move will enable staff to work together in one space.
Management added it will save money, no staff will lose their job, no programming will change, and all of central Newfoundland will still be covered by CBC News.
For Central Morning Show producer David Newell, the new space means the CBC will be more visible in the area.
"We're ready to do what we've been doing and improve on it. We're just happy that we're more visible in the community and more people will actually know that CBC is in central Newfoundland," he said.
Radio listeners will have the chance to hear Central Morning from its new space Monday morning.
