The funds will help secure a move to the Collingwood Arts Precinct.
Melbourne’s PBS 106.7FM will receive $500,000 in funding from the State Government of Victoria to help the station move to The Collingwood Arts Precinct (CAP), as announced by local MP Richard Wynne at the PBS studios yesterday.
“PBS is one of the most treasured community broadcasters in Melbourne, and I’m delighted to see them move in to the fantastic Collingwood Arts Precinct. This funding of $500,000 will ensure they continue to be a strong centre of music and creativity in Collingwood for decades to come,” said Wynne.
The funding will make a huge difference to the station, as it goes about raising the more than $1.2 million required to relocate studios, transmission equipment and administrative functions to the new site.
As well as broadcasting local and international music from gospel singing to death metal that is seldom, if ever, heard anywhere elsewhere, PBS also trains and develops new and existing broadcasters, including from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and runs programs that help address gender imbalance in the music sector.
CAP recognises the opportunities PBS, with its sole focus on music, could bring to the precinct, offering the station an anchor tenancy. The state’s peak body Music Victoria and youth music organisation The Push also will be housed in the new arts precinct on Johnston Street, which will provide a multipurpose space for events and exhibitions, a training room for education programs, and meeting rooms for the music industry to share ideas.
PBS will launch a public fundraising appeal later in the year to raise the remaining funds required.
Adrian Basso, General Manager PBS said:
“We are extremely grateful to our local representative, Richard Wynne, and the State Government for their support of PBS and music in general. This funding makes it possible for us to achieve our dream of a stable, long-term home surrounded by creative and dynamic neighbours who share our passion for championing music in Melbourne.”