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Published on Thursday, 20 September 2012 14:03
It took a few months to happen, but tomorrow, WGN Radio will host an official ribbon cutting ceremony for its recently renamed and renovated Allstate Showcase Studio. The ceremony will take place Friday afternoon outside of the studios, which are located at the base of Tribune Tower, 435 N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
The 4:30pm ribbon cutting will feature WGN-AM personalities and staffers, as well as Allstate Insurance Company executives. At approximately 5:15pm, Garry Meier will have a live interview with Alice Byrne, Field Senior Vice President for Allstate's Midwest Region.
After the event, pictures and videos from the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be posted on
WGNRadio.com.
Back in April, WGN Radio announced new partnership with its longtime sponsor, the Allstate Corporation. On May 1st, WGN-AM's Showcase Studio overlooking Michigan Avenue was renamed as the Allstate Showcase Studio. The famous Chicagoland-based insurance company had been granted the naming rights to the Chicago radio station's famous, over 25 year-old, street-side radio studio.
Allstate's sponsorship agreement with the radio station included an interior studio wrap featuring WGN Radio and Allstate graphics, as well as on-air naming recognition. Financial terms and the exact length of the multi-year agreement were not made public.
Due to the Tribune Tower leasing out much of the space on its first floor where WGN Radio's studios, control rooms and offices were located to a restaurant management company, the station was
forced to move itself up from the main level of the building, to the seventh floor -- with one notable exception: the historic street-side studio. Following the station's move seven floors upstairs this summer to all new studios, the Allstate Showcase Studio also underwent technical upgrades. The interior studio wrap featuring WGN Radio and Allstate graphics was also finally installed, which is why the celebration will be taking place tomorrow.
The WGN Radio Showcase Studio originally opened on August 3, 1986, when the radio station relocated its studios from Bradley Place, where it had been for 25 years and which still houses WGN-TV, back to its previous home inside the Tribune Tower.
Interior shot of WGN Radio's Showcase Studio
(Photo credit: Steve Dahlman)
