the Silver Hill site at auction and the FCC conditionally granted the license December 10, 1945. The war memorial, incidentally, was not constructed for another 40 years and was placed at another location. A major blow to the FM project came, however, when the FCC moved FM’s spectrum assignment from the 42–50 MHz band, allocated just before the war, to the 88–106 (later expanded to 108) MHz band. This had the effect of rendering 500,000 receivers obsolete. The Gazette responded by filing an application for a 250-watt AM station. “Mr. Russ said establishment of an AM station for local coverage does not mean the company has abandoned plans for its FM station. It was decided to apply for an AM station when it became apparent facilities were not going to be developed as fast as first believed possible for FM stations. The company plans to operate the AM station in conjunction with (what would now be a 20,000-watt) FM station when the later station is set up.” Construction begins The following month it was announced that impressive art deco studios would be constructed in downtown Haverhill, while a transmitting building would be built on Silver Hill. The first of the tower would be for AM transmissions at 1,490 kHz, while an isolated mast on the top would be erected for later FM transmission at 96.1 MHz. James B. Dunbar, commercial manager of the station, said The Gazette reached agreement with the City of Haverhill to swap its approved call letters of WHGF with the police department’s radio station, WHAV. Al Taylor, recruited from WCAU in Philadelphia (now WPHT), and a former newspaperman who had interviewed Adolf Hitler, would become the first program director, and Herbert W. Brown became chief engineer. With transmission facilities completed, the inaugural broadcast of the AM station was set to take place March 16, 1947, from temporary studios downtown. Programs that day included a drama, "One Way Ticket," starring Fred Waring and Myrna Loy. The new studios, being designed by local architect Clinton F. Goodwin, would be ready later that year. In an interview during the early 1980s, Goodwin admitted he toured other stations, including WEEI in Boston (now WEZE) to determine how best to design the studios. That may explain why the station’s facilities convey a 1930s' appearance. The new one-story studio building contained two large studios – one containing the requisite piano – and