The Internet Has Discovered This Retro Radio Building in Michigan – and They’re in Love

You likely think little about the process of radio broadcasting beyond you turn on your car and audio is there. But these radio stations come from studios and transmitter sites. Some sites can be sparse and utilitarian or they can have a lavish look.

Check out this radio transmitter site from the Detroit area. It was shared on Facebook with a group that admires the Art Deco style. The building houses the transmitter (but not studios) for one of Michigan's largest and well-known radio stations, WJR in Detroit. The station bills itself as the Great Voice of the Great Lakes and putting that on your name you need to back it up with a facility like that.

The Art Deco style dates back to the early 1900s reaching a peak in the 1920s-30s around the time WJR first went on the air. The building is on Sibley Road in Riverview south of Detroit.

Here's what those on social media said in reaction to seeing the building:

I grew up fascinated by this building...always wanted inside.

Here's to a time when public architecture wasn't just the cheapest thing you could build!

Holy moly, gorgeous

Wow! I’ve worked in some pretty dumpy radio stations. This is the Taj Mahal

Truly impressed. Transmitter buildings are usually just shacks.

And that's the truth. This transmitter building - where generally no one works and engineers just check in as needed - is certainly a more impressive facility than many other radio studios.