CKLU 96.7FM Campus and Community Radio cut the ribbon on a new era Monday.
The radio station is officially set up at its new location on Elgin Street, inside the McEwen School of Architecture.
Today marks a historic occasion for CKLU, said Steve Kraus, president of the station.
“We've moved several times over the years, but this is the most significant move we've ever made because we are now off campus, and back where everything began many years ago,” Kraus said. “We're taking a step in a new direction, and being located downtown is very exciting for us. We get to network with a new community, support the downtown business and expand our presence.”
CKLU got its start as Laurentian Student and Community Radio Corporation. It began as a closed-circuit station, available only to Laurentian University, in 1984.
In 1986, broadcast from a shipping container in the Fraser Auditorium parking lot under the callsign CFLR 106.7FM, the station was added to cable service in Sudbury.
The CRTC granted the station a license in 1997, allowing broadcast over the air at 96.7FM and providing the designation of CKLU.
CKLU began streaming over the web in 2008, and continues as such until the present day.
“We play every genre you can think of, from hip hop all the way to death metal,” said Kraus. “We've got a world-famous DJ on our station, who does remixes for all sorts of hip hop artists in the U.S. We are a very multifaceted station that showcases what music is really all about.”
CKLU is one of a very few stations in town that will go out of its way to play demo and indie recordings that may not be up to par for mass consumption on some of the bigger stations, Kraus said. “We're all about exposure and giving artists in the area some air time.”
