(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Aug. 10, 2010) A groundbreaking ceremony for the new KCLU Broadcast Center will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 24, at California Lutheran University.

The $2.9 million center will house The Paulucci Family Studios. There will be four state-of-the-art production rooms, one of which will be the National Public Radio station’s first dedicated newsroom.

The two-story KCLU Broadcast Center will also provide facilities for educational opportunities and community events that the current center can’t accommodate. The Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Education Suite will feature a classroom and lab facilities to train broadcast journalism students. The Community Room/Performance Space will be used for meetings, lectures and special events.

The new 6,570-square-foot center will replace the tiny studio in CLU’s Mountclef Residence Hall where the KCLU staff has produced award-winning local news and public affairs programs since it signed on in 1994. KCLU, which serves about 70,000 weekly listeners in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, has received more than 140 awards for broadcasting excellence in the last decade. So far in 2010, it has won more awards than any other Southern California station.

The center is slated for completion in summer 2011.

Larry and Maj Hagman, honorary chairpersons for the building’s fundraising campaign, plan to participate in the ceremony. Light refreshments will be served.

The public is invited, but reservations are required. To RSVP, call the station at (805) 493-3900.

The site is north of Olsen Road on Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks. It is located on the east side of the street.

KCLU, a community service of CLU, broadcasts local and national programming in Ventura County on 88.3 FM and in Santa Barbara County at 1340 AM and 102.3 FM. Live streaming and archives are available at http://www.kclu.org.