MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
WSFA 12 News and the City of Montgomery have entered into an agreement to deliver live television news broadcasts from the 1 Dexter Plaza Building overlooking Dexter Avenue and the Capitol.
This new venue will take viewers downtown every day showcasing downtown Montgomery. The working WSFA 12 News newsroom will feature a television studio with weather facilities as well as work space.
"We are proud to be a part of the revitalization of downtown Montgomery and look forward to the enhanced WSFA 12 News newscasts this downtown venue will make available to our viewers. WSFA 12 News has been a part of the central Alabama communities for nearly 57 years and this added studio shows our dedication to the river region and downtown Montgomery," said Collin R. Gaston, WSFA 12 News Vice President and General Manager. "This studio will be utilized in conjunction with our current news studio daily providing for much easier and faster access to state and city government leaders as well as Montgomery based business leaders."
"This is another medium to showcase the revitalization of downtown Montgomery especially historic Dexter Avenue. This visual backdrop demonstrates the connectivity and governmental bookends for our city and state. We are delighted to have WSFA 12 News as a tenant in our facility," said Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange.
"Construction will begin immediately with the intention to begin broadcasting from downtown sometime in early October," said Gaston. "Newscasts will be co-anchored from this new studio; reporters and newsmakers will also use studio to showcase state and Montgomery stories. In addition, our team of meteorologists will be able to use the venue to present the weather. Visitors to downtown Montgomery will be able to see what is happening in the studio from street level adding a new level of excitement to Dexter Avenue."
"This is an amazing opportunity to get our anchors and reporters outside the four walls of a traditional studio. Anytime you can inject a beautiful backdrop to TV news it adds vibrancy to the broadcast. The possibilities are endless and having a downtown presence will enhance all we do at WSFA 12 News," said Scott Duff, WSFA 12 News -News Director.
A temporary studio will be built on the third floor of 1 Dexter Plaza to start as renovations are made to the second floor. After renovations are complete, the broadcast studio will permanently be moved to the second floor giving viewers an even more spectacular view of Dexter Avenue and the Capitol during news broadcasts. The new WSFA 12 News studio will feature two studio cameras, outside cameras and cabling to the streets of downtown Montgomery for live shots in front of the fountain and Dexter Avenue. The studio will be enclosed in glass so guests to 1 Dexter Plaza will be able to watch a live WSFA 12 News newscast.
Copyright WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.
© The outside view of 1 Dexter Plaza
© View from new studio space
© The view looking up Dexter Avenue at the Alabama Capitol.
© WSFA 12 News Vice President/General Manager Collin R. Gaston and Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange
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