From On-Air to Onstage: KRCL’s new all-ages venue coming summer 2027
Northern Utah’s nonprofit radio station announces expansion plans for a community gathering place in Salt Lake City’s Guadalupe neighborhood
NEWS
Photos from KRCL’s Next Generation capital campaign announcement on April 2: Left to right: Executive Director Gavin Dahl announces expansion plans at the KRCL studio; a rendering shows plans for the new KRCL performance venue; SLC’s Brazuca Band performs live from the KRCL studio; community members gather to hear about the capital campaign; KRCL staff and partners break ground; Ebay Hamilton with John Florence and other team members. Photos by Deann Armes
Broadcasting at 90.9 FM, KRCL has been one of the most consistent radio stations the state has to offer when it comes to supporting local bands and playing a wide variety of music. In its 47th year, KRCL takes a huge step forward with a new venue for both the station and community.
KRCL’s expanded gathering place will be located in the Guadalupe neighborhood in Salt Lake City and will include an all-ages performance hall holding up to 200 people. It will also house an art gallery, outdoor plaza, production studios, and more. To date, the station has raised 92% of its $7 million goal through a silent campaign to fund the project. A grand opening for the new venue is planned for summer of 2027.
Gavin Dahl, the executive director of KRCL, said that the station was first approached with the potential idea of opening a new space roughly a decade ago by Chris Parker from the Giv Group, a real estate organization and dedicated to affordable housing in Salt Lake City.
KRCL decided to move from their previous location on North Temple to the Guadalupe neighborhood in 2021. Dahl joined the KRCL team in 2022, where he and the KRCL team worked to expand the space of their new location. On April 2, KRCL announced its Next Generation plans to the public.
On top of being a key partner, Giv Group is developing four new housing developments on the same block, with KRCL in the center of the space. Construction on this project is currently planned for the first week of June.
“We are expecting the Guadalupe area to become one, if not the most dense neighborhoods in Salt Lake…we want KRCL to be one of the key gathering places for the community,” said Dahl.
Dahl said that KRCL hosted over 130 bands in their live studio last year, but none of these performances were to a live audience.
“So, a big part of this objective is simply to get more people together,” said Dahl.
Lara Jones, who joined KRCL in 2015 and hosts the station's RadioACTive program, hopes that the new all-ages venue can be a launching pad for musicians to sharpen their chops.
Dahl said that public radio stations developing a live performance space has become more common. KRCL looked to stations like KEXP in Seattle, a station that is well regarded in live performance video, WBUR in Boston and KMFA in Austin, which initially built a space for chamber music but found that groups from all music genres wanted to use their space.
Ebay Hamilton, a radio host and director of programming and operations at KRCL, said that the station has wished for a space for the community to celebrate music together. KRCL amplifies the voices of its hosts and will extend this to the stage. Hamilton hopes that this can introduce KRCL to a younger audience.
“Our hope is that the space will be utilized by existing neighbors and friends,” said Dahl.
KRCL plans to collaborate with local non-profit art organizations for their art gallery. This provides art organizations and institutes without dedicated gallery space a venue to exhibit or sell their work, while also offering students an opportunity to showcase their projects to a broader audience.
“I think it’s really important for young people to see themselves and peers represented in our organization,” said Dahl.
Dahl, who has worked in radio for over 20 years, said that this is the most transformative and challenging job he has ever had.
“I could work this hard somewhere else and not have results that we’ve had. But KRCL’s listeners, members, volunteers, have such a strong commitment to this place over so many years, that I am truly standing on the shoulders of some incredible people that got us here,” said Dahl.
In 2025, KRCL lost $400,000 in federal grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Federal Emergency Management, but thanks to a strong community built up over the years, donations and supporters, KRCL can continue to bring music and events to its audience.
Dahl hopes the venue can work as a long-term home for KRCL and its supporters going forward.