(This section is under construction. The text below is a draft history, more information is needed.  Please contact us with corrections, updates and/or suggestions. Email us at: admin@hartfordradiohistory.com.)

    In the late eighties, Dr. Isadore Temkin and local attorney Robert Sullivan decided that Torrington could benefit from a community radio station.  The Torrington Board of Education  (BOE) agreed to be the licensee and plans were made to locate the new station in the high school. 
    On February 7, 1990 the Torrington  BOE submitted an application for a non-commercial FM station to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The application included a request for a waiver from the FCC's rules regarding interference as an engineering study indicated that the proposed station would cause a very small amount of interference with Connecticut Public Radio's station in Meriden (in fact, less than 0.1% of their coverage area would have been affected).  The FCC denied the waiver request and returned the application.   
    Dr. Temkin realized that if they could move the proposed station's antenna a bit farther away from Meriden the interference issue would be eliminated so permission was obtained from the UConn Torrington branch to use an existing tower on their campus for the new station.  

For the first two and a half years of the station's operation the WAPJ antenna was on this tower on the UConn Torringtom campus.

This is where WAJP started out in 1998.  The studio was in the wing directly to the left of the sign and the antenna was on the tower behind the building.  2009 photo.

        On May 21, 1996 the FCC issued Consent to Transfer the CP to the LCCHE.
        This was followed by ten months of intense work, acquiring equipment, conducting auditions, installing the antenna on the tower, setting up a programming schedule and building the new studio.
        WAPJ signed on for the first time at 7pm on March 17, 1997 on 89.9 MHz.  A gala event was held in the UConn auditorium to celebrate the launch of the new station and many area dignitaries were in attendance.

John Ramsey recalls:

“While I had been doing broadcast engineering professionally for over 20 years, I had never had a chance to help put a station on the air from scratch so I offered to build the station for them pro bono.  Scott Baron was my assistant and we had a great time building the studio and setting up the transmitter.

"The first time I visited the campus I was amazed to find that there was a 300 foot tall radio tower right behind the main building so I knew there wouldn’t be any problem finding a place to put the antenna.

 "The entire facility consisted of a room divided by a wall with a sliding glass door.  The inner area served as the studio proper while the outer area served as an office.  The studio was built around a large audio console donated by WHCN in Hartford and the WAPJ antenna was mounted on a large tower behind the building formally used by SNET."

Ken Fuchsman, UConn’s Continuing Education Coordinator was quoted in a newspaper article “The format will feature everything from public service programming to classical music.  We’ve been gratified by the number of talented people who have stepped forward to lend their time and talents to WAPJ.  People in this community and the UConn campus are looking forward to this new voice for Torrington.”

In some ways the UConn location was ideal, little or no facility cost, access to the student body and school infrastructure, and a tall tower.  But the fact that the school building was only open during school hours severely limited the ability of station volunteers to access the station.  This is one of the reasons it was decided that the programming of WWUH be carried at times when the building was closed and the station would otherwise be off the air. This arrangement allowed WAPJ to remain on the air 24 hours a day.

The station operated with 100 watts ERP from this location and despite the high tower it had some coverage problems to the north and west due to high terrain around the site. To eliminate these problems the antenna was moved to Highland Avenue on the west side of Torrington in 2000.  The space was made available courtesy of Mr. Hugo Gerby.  Even though the FCC required that the power be reduced to 40 watts, the greatly increased height of the antenna resulted in a significant improvement in coverage with listeners calling in from as far away as Thomaston, Granby and Winsted. 

WAPJ carried the Torrington Twisters in 2001 and 2002, with Dave Sweet handling the play by play.

Dave Sweet became general manager in 2002.

By 2001 Uconn needed the space occupied by the station so the license was transferred to the Nutmeg Ballet and new studios were built in the basement of the newly renovated Nutmeg Ballet building on Main Street in Torrington. The additional space at this location allowed for the construction of a 2nd studio for training and production, something very important for a station with a volunteer staff.  Sabrina Roper was appointed as station manager.

The Nutmeg Conservatory of the Arts became in licensee in the early 2000's and the studios were moved to the basement of this newly renovated building

Above:  WAPJ production studio when the station was located in the Nutmeg Ballet building on Main St., c. 2000.  You can see the main air studio through the window in the background.

In 2004 the Ballet needed the space that the studios occupied so the license was transferred to the current licensee, the I.B. and Zena H. Temkin Foundation, and the studios were moved to 42 Water Street in Torrington. This location offered approximately 1,300 square feet of space and included an air studio, a production studio, a performance area and extensive office space.  

 The main studio utilized furniture donated by WWUH and was build in the store front with a large window facing Water Street. . . many stations were located in store fronts back in the forties and fifties so it seemed appropriate for a small town station with a desire to be highly visible to the public.   

In 2005 the station was granted a license for a translator on 105.1 MHz with 20 watts to provide additional building-penetration coverage in downtown Torrington.
        From day one WAPJ has chosen to fill in the gaps in their local programming with programming from WWUH and WMNR. 

Above:  Single-bay WAPJ antenna on side of WZBG tower on Highland Ave., approx. 1300 feet above sea level.  This extreme height helps compensate for the station's low power (40 watts).

Water St. air studio just prior to the start of studio construction.

Water St. production studio under construction.

WAPJ's Water St. studio

WAPJ's store front Air Studio.  2008 photo.

1998

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Joseph Montebello (R), the host of WAPJ radio program "Between the Covers," discusses the literary world with Oliver Wolcott Library Director Ann Marie White during the program's February 2 debut.  ""Between the Covers" is broadcast Wednesdays at 2 p.m. on 89.9 FM and 105.1 FM.

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