MARSHALL - The Rotary Clubs of Asheville and Madison County teamed up to donate $4,000 to the Madison County Arts Council after the building required significant repairs following damage from Tropical Storm Helene.
The Rotary Clubs of Asheville and Madison County are supporting wART FM 95.5, Madison County’s volunteer-powered community radio station, in establishing a backup broadcast studio at A-B Tech's Madison campus.
The project will help wART FM remain on the air with local news, emergency alerts, recovery information and community updates if its primary downtown Marshall studio is disrupted by flooding or another disaster.
“Radio communication is important at all times, but even more so in times of a disaster. The Rotary Club of Asheville
is pleased to help ensure that this vital service is secure,” said Rotary Club of Asheville President Michelle Daniels.
Connie Molland, Rotary’s past district governor for Western North Carolina during Helene, said a recent power outage in downtown Marshall underscores why the station needs a backup studio.
"While it's easy to think that we would never be in a position like we were with Helene, we had a reminder in July when a storm again knocked out power to all of the buildings in downtown Marshall for about 20 hours. Had we had the backup studio up at A-B Tech, wART FM could have been back on the air providing necessary updates to the community to keep folks informed," said Molland.
When Helene ripped through the region on Sept. 27, 2024, heavy rains caused catastrophic flooding of many rivers, including the French Broad, which devastated Marshall, destroying homes, roads, bridges and businesses. Helene killed more than 100 people and caused nearly $60 billion in damage across the state.
wART FM’s downtown studio was destroyed in the September 2024 Helene floods. Madison County's community radio station based in Marshall, managed to return to the airwaves in the first week of October, and has secured a temporary new home for the foreseeable future, as A-B Tech Madison's campus in Marshall agreed to house the radio station. Community Housing Coalition stepped up for the radio station too, offering up the organization's office in 2024 as well.
The radio station was honored Dec. 4, 2024, at the Land of Sky Regional Council's Board of Delegates annual awards ceremony, in which it was recognized with an Extraordinary Public Service Award.
With donated equipment and temporary space, volunteers returned the station to the air within nine days, providing critical information to residents of Madison and Buncombe counties. The station returned to the renovated Madison County Arts Council space in downtown Marshall in June 2026 and now, with these funds, plans an emergency backup studio at A-B Tech Madison.
Rotary Clubs of Madison County and Asheville approved $4,000 toward the purchase of a studio mixing board, studio-to-transmitter-link equipment, and cabling. Together, the equipment will enable the station to transmit from its backup studio to its hilltop transmitter and resume broadcasting quickly when it is needed most.
The backup studio can also serve as a learning lab for A-B Tech Madison students and community members interested in radio production, journalism, podcasting, and local programming. wART FM serves Walnut, Marshall, Mars Hill, and parts of north and west Buncombe County through its 100-watt FM signal, livestream, and mobile app. The station is staffed entirely by volunteers.
“In the truest sense of community, A-B Tech, who already supported wART generously, was quick to offer wART studio space at their Madison campus after the storm. This space allowed us to resettle and re-engage our DJs," said Brandon Johnson, the Madison County Arts Council executive director.
Johnny Casey is the Madison County communities reporter for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel. He can be reached at 828-210-6074 or jcasey@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Madison Co. Arts Council gets backup studio thanks to local Rotary Clubs
