We can’t say we didn’t see it coming. Last year, Oregon Public Broadcasting CEO Steven Bass told our editorial board that Corvallis’ KOAC radio broadcast from Oregon State University had a long association with OPB.

In fact, OPB was born at OSU. It happened officially on Dec. 7, 1922, when the federal government assigned a tiny experimental on-campus radio station the call letters KFDJ.

What started as a physics experiment slowly grew into a radio station that broadcast farm reports and home economics tips, mostly generated by what was then Oregon Agricultural College’s fledgling extension service.

Other “firsts” followed. On Dec. 21, 1925, KFDJ became the first Oregon station to change its call letters, to KOAC, to reflect the college’s name. After several on-campus moves, the state-of-the-art station settled into bright new Covell Hall in 1928.

But Friday, the eight staffers who work at the station learned that OPB was closing down its campus radio station and moving its equipment to Portland.

It’s over.

Sure, KOAC will continue to air locally as before, but the actual equipment — and some “of the greatest broadcasting relics” — are headed to the Rose City, Bass said. The reason? Covell Hall no longer satisfies OPB’s technological needs. The 80-year-old building isn’t air-conditioned, and computerized radio broadcasting equipment generates enough heat to fry a CPU on a motherboard.

In other words, it wasn’t OPB; it’s OSU and Covell Hall.

“Now the whole nature of the way that (radio) programming is distributed is much more computer-like ... Literally when you’re in a facility where the announcer’s booths aren’t soundproof; where they’re single-pane glass and you have to open the window when it gets hot ... not exactly conducive to announcing.”

Bass said it would cost OSU about $500,000 to upgrade Covell Hall. That just isn’t worth the trouble when relocating would be less expensive, more efficient and provide better broadcast service.

We shouldn’t make too much of this change, Bass said. The fact that OPB bought Eugene’s KOPT AM 1600 from Churchill Media last fall? Well, it’s no slam on Corvallis.

(Yeah, right. You can bet KOPT is air-

conditioned.)

Bass said the change has been coming for a long time, and OSU officials knew all about it. KOAC personnel won’t leave for at least a year; not until after the Feb. 18, 2009, deadline for the big TV switch for all analog (antenna users). They need to obtain cable boxes if they still want to draw a signal, and OPB’s first priority is getting the word out about that and making a smooth change.

Once OPB moves from OSU next April or so, listeners probably won’t notice any difference. After all, the campus facility hasn’t been much more than a relay station for years now.

Two engineers will remain in the area, and six other employees may relocate or resign. OPB actually is adding more regional coverage out of this area. Its addition of a new reporter in the Bend area means more regional content. Plus, OPB personnel regularly meet with OSU experts, such as political commentator Bill Lunch.

That will not change, Bass said. But sometimes, people — and public broadcasting companies — just have to let go.

“In a sense (this is) the end of our first 86 years of existence. But sometimes, you have to give up things to get better things.”