Rocky Mountain Public Media (RMPM) has opened its new building, the Buell Public Media Center, located at 2101 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO, 80205. RMPM, the parent company of Rocky Mountain PBS, KUVO JAZZ and THE DROP, is Colorado’s largest statewide, member-supported multimedia organization with 90,000 members and stations in Denver, Pueblo/Colorado Springs, Steamboat Springs, Grand Junction and Durango. 
In this time of great community need for resources and information, the Buell Public Media Center allows RMPM to best serve the community through a central location and upgrades to technology that create better access and connectivity for all of its channels to reach and engage audiences statewide.
In addition to providing a central location for RMPM’s channels, the building houses the Colorado Media Collaborative (COLab) and the Community Media Center. COLab is a new-era newsroom designed to support nearly 100 local journalists working to bring news and information to the state’s diverse communities. Through COLab, news organizations will share resources, infrastructure and strategies to provide stories responsive to the concerns, interests and values of the community. Additional support for the COLab space was provided by Gates Family Foundation and John S. & James L. Knight Foundation. Emily Griffith Technical College, in partnership with the City and County of Denver, will operate the Community Media Center, a 5,000-square-foot space for media production classes for students learning to become well-rounded storytellers.
“The Buell Public Media Center is critical to RMPM’s goal of creating a Colorado where everyone is seen and heard, strengthening the civic fabric of our state while building a new journalism paradigm focused on collaboration and community-centered storytelling,” said Amanda Mountain, president & CEO of Rocky Mountain Public Media. “Through its technology, the building serves as a connector, enabling RMPM and partners to make a collective impact.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, RMPM is focused on delivering content that supports all communities and amplifies Colorado voices. Recent programming includes Black Love Mural Festival, highlighting the murals in Civic Center Park; Cupcakes 4 Change, a teen entrepreneur’s response to surviving a school shooting at Highlands Ranch STEM School; Margarita’s Story, the story of a mother of two DACA recipients; Styler and Jax: Drag is art, a story from the LGBTQIA+ community; and Colorado Springs Superintendent Has Eyes on Equity, Dr. Michael Thomas’s personal experience that informs his leadership for a school district of 27,000.
RMPM has been staggering the timing of the relocation of stations and employees to the new building to ensure safety while following social distancing guidelines, beginning with the opening of the KUVO JAZZ studio in June.
RMPM broke ground on the new building, the Buell Public Media Center, in November 2018. The building is the result of a capital campaign, launched by RMPM in 2016 and completed in 2020, that raised $34 million. Major donors include Buell Foundation, Robert F. Metzler & Rosemary M. Metzler, Daniel & Janet Mordecai, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Gill Foundation, Koelbel Family Foundation, Sturm Family Foundation, Patricia L. Pacey & Charles M. Neinas, Doug Morton & Marilyn Brown, and Douglas & Hazel Stevens Price.
No comments:
Post a Comment