Fred Rogers Company moves out
June 14, 2013
If you travel along Fifth Avenue in Oakland, you might notice a void outside of the WQED Studios. The Fredosaurus Rex has moved. So has the Fred Rogers Company (formerly known as Family Communications) who occupied space in the building for four decades. The non-profit started by Rogers in 1971 moved to Birmingham Towers on Pittsburgh’s South Side. The company had occupied its space at WQED since its founding – and it made sense since Rogers was one of the founders of WQED and also used the studios for taping the program.
But with new projects in the company’s pipeline, additional office space, and less studio space was required. WQED Spokesman George Hazimanolis told Current.org that the station tried to accommodate FRC’s needs for more space and storage, “but we were unable to offer the volume of contiguous space they required,” he said.
The 6000-square-foot space at Birmingham Towers is twice the size of the WQED space and includes two edit suites. The company now tapes live-action shots on location throughout Pittsburgh.
