Ceremony will take place Feb. 8.
The New England Public Radio Foundation's 50th Anniversary Capital Campaign for WFCR has raised more than $5 million out of a projected $7 million since it began 18 months ago, according to a release from New England Public Radio.
According to the release, this puts the station on course for the construction of its new facility in downtown Springfield with a groundbreaking ceremony set Feb. 8.
Of the $5,282,500 raised to date, $3,990,000 has been designated for facilities, leaving $1.4 million to be raised to fully fund the Springfield building project.
Martin Miller, chief executive officer and general manager, said New England Public Radio is " thrilled with the success of our campaign" and encouraged people to "get involved to complete the project."
New England Public Radio will formally mark the beginning of construction at its new facility at 1525 Main Street with a ground breaking ceremony on Feb. 8 at 2 p.m.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and Elizabeth Cardona, director of Gov. Deval Patrick's Springfield Office, are expected to joing Miller to celebrate the Amherst-based station's expansion.
Upon completion of the building fund, the campaign will focus on raising money for area programming initiatives on WFCR and all-news WNNZ, a facilities endowment, new technologies and an endowment for classical and jazz programming. The campaign goal is $7 million, according to the release.
Campaign contributions have come in through foundations, corporations, businesses, individual contributions, grants and New Markets Tax Credits through the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, according to the release.