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50th anniversary celebration for KVZK-TV will be low-key

The Office of Public Information is in the planning stages of what will be a small celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the first day KVZK-TV went on the air, back in October 1964.

 

OPI Director Fagafaga Daniel Langkilde told Samoa News yesterday that the 50th anniversary celebration is set for October 5, 2014 but “it won’t be anything big”.

 

Fagafaga said they were hoping the KVZK-TV building would be restored this year to coincide with the anniversary but “it looks like the restoration project won’t happen until next year”.

 

He said, “Once the building is fully restored, then we will have a big celebration.”

 

Last month, local company Designer Plus submitted a draft assessment to the American Samoa Historical Preservation Office (ASHPO), saying the KVZK-TV building is salvageable.

 

Late last year, Historic Preservation Officer David Herdrich told Samoa News that the assessment had to be carried out to determine if the building is structurally sound.

 

The KVZK-TV building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and everything on the building is original except for roof, which was replaced by FEMA following one of the hurricanes.

 

Fagafaga said the interior of the building will be gutted while the outside will be fully restored to preserve its original look.

 

KVZK-TV was the first television station in the Pacific Islands outside of Australia and New Zealand during a time when it was hard to recruit qualified teachers to work in the territory.

 

H. Rex Lee, who was governor at the time, brought educational television here and with the support of Ohio Congressman Michael J. Kirwan, KVZK-TV became a reality. (The official name of the KVZK-TV building is the Michael J. Kirwan Educational Television Center).

 

In an initial interview with Samoa News, Herdrich said the current state of the TV station is a result of many years of neglect.

 

Fagafaga said their office is looking forward to the anniversary. “This is quite a milestone for the territory, because this was the first television station in the South Pacific.”