• by March 9, 2001

By Ken Liebeskind

Want to contribute to the preservation of radio? Give to the National Museum of Broadcasting (NMB) in Pittsburgh, which is raising money to save a garage.

It's not just any garage. It is the garage in Wilkinsburg, PA, which borders Pittsburgh, where Frank Conrad practically invented radio. Conrad, an engineer for the Westinghouse Co., a radio pioneer, worked with Westinghouse equipment in his garage where he devised the way to send a radio broadcast long distance, was the first to play music on the radio and even invented radio advertising by naming the record store that gave him music to play.

Conrad made his discoveries by 1919 at the end of World War I, a year before KDKA/Pittsburgh broadcast the Harding-Cox election returns, which paved the way for the modern broadcast era.

Conrad died in 1941 and his red brick garage passed through a number of hands until the Elks Club bought the property. They kept it for 50 years but recently sold it and the new owner plans to demolish the garage in April unless the NMB can move it.

Rick Harris, treasurer of the NMB, is valiantly trying to raise money for the project, but has had only one major donor so far. That is Ralph Guild, who followed in Conrad's footsteps and became a major player in the radio industry. Guild, ceo and chairman of Interep, the largest radio rep firm, has spent over 50 years in the industry. He donated $50,000 to NMB, which is by far the largest donation, Harris says.

At least $70,000 is needed to save the garage and it must be raised quickly.

Harris hopes to find a new site for the garage and make it into a museum, which would honor Pittsburgh's place in the history of radio.

To help the effort, send your donations to the National Museum of Broadcasting, 407 Woodside Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15221.