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Antioch University has no plans to sell Yellow Springs holdings
WYSO manager and Glen Helen chairman work toward independence.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
YELLOW SPRINGS — — Antioch University has no immediate plans to sell or close its other Yellow Springs-based entities when it closes Antioch College in 2008, university chancellor Toni Murdock said.
Since the university's announcement last month that it will close the undergraduate residential campus until 2012 because of a large projected deficit, alumni have raised concerns that the university would sell off significant assets such as WYSO-FM (91.3) or the 1,000-acre Glen Helen nature preserve.
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"We will be running a full operation here in relation to the buildings and facilities," Murdock said last week. "It will be education as usual around here next year."
WYSO not for sale
A recent on-air pledge drive, on the heels of the closure announcement, asking for contributions to help WYSO become more independent stirred rumors the station was being sold.
"But it did not mean independence from the university," Paul Maassen, WYSO general manager, said.
"Definitely, there are no plans to sell WYSO," Murdock said.
But potential buyers for a public radio station routinely contact license owners to gauge their interest, Marc Hand, managing director for Public Radio Capital, a Colorado-based brokerage service for public radio stations, said Monday.
Five years ago, most colleges didn't think their public radio stations were worth much "but the number of noncommercial radio stations bought and sold has increased dramatically in the last five years," Hand said.
WYSO, which launched several public radio careers, is nationally respected by broadcasters. "Certainly, Antioch has been contacted in the past," Hand said.
Public radio station owners usually consider selling stations when they're in financial crisis or have a management change, he said.
Cincinnati Xavier University's public radio station WVXU-FM (91.7) fetched about $15 million for its license, according to Hand.
Four broadcasters bid on the station, including a noncommercial religious broadcaster. It sold to a classical music broadcaster. Only nonprofit corporations can purchase the portion of the FM band reserved for public radio. Some of the fastest-growing buyers of the public radio band are noncommercial religious broadcasters, Hand said.
WYSO, a 37,000-watt station that reaches about 1 million listeners, would fetch a medium-market price, Hand said.
Maassen said the station has not been contacted by buyers recently.
The station, which has a $1.3 million budget and seven full-time employees, was mandated to become financially self-sufficient by July 2009 and will continue to stay on the campus.
"We're really sad about the closure of the college, but it really underscores the need for all the business units to be self-sufficient," Maassen said.
Self-sufficient Glen Helen
Glen Helen, supported by a college subsidy of about $35,000 in the past, will also be expected to become financially self-sufficient.
While the Glen has balanced its budget in recent years, "I expect we will have to do more fundraising and build our endowment," said Mel Fine, chairman of the Glen Helen Ecology Institute board.
The endowment provides about 5 percent of the Glen's operating revenue "and healthy nonprofits look to have about 33 percent or more," he said.
Special restrictions on the Glen, donated to Antioch in 1929 by Hugh Taylor Birch and named for his daughter Helen, require Antioch to turn the land over to the state if it is unable to fulfill its educational mission.
"So it will not be developed," Murdock said.
'Walkable community'
The rest of the college's land in Yellow Springs, on which 30 campus buildings sit, will likely be condensed into a smaller campus and developed after the college closes in 2008, Murdock said.
Private institutions with land have turned entrepreneurial and are turning their assets into revenue streams, she said.
"I envision a walkable community that could enhance the economic potential of the community," Murdock said. "Is it going to look like the same college? No. But it will be built on the same values."
