AIM Expanding Broadcast Reach With Arlington Lease in Former Pepsi Bottling Plant
By Keith Loria November 14, 2022 5:03 pm
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Arlington Independent Media (AIM), a community media organization with a 40-year history in Arlington, Va., is expanding to a second location.
AIM, which operates out of 2701 Wilson Boulevard, will open a satellite studio at 3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive under a partnership between the organization and Arlington Arts, a division of Arlington Economic Development.
The Arlington County Board approved a license for AIM to operate in three underused audio-visual production studios in the building, plus take hold of three offices and two storage spaces totaling 1,071 square feet. The lease is for five years with an option to extend for up to 30 years.
Once taking over the space, AIM will provide video instruction and community broadcast access to Arlington residents.
Originally built as a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant in the mid-1940s, 3700 Four Mile Run Drive eventually became a radio broadcast facility for WETA. Arlington County acquired the facility in the early 2000s to house the Theatre on the Run venue, rehearsal spaces, dance studios, offices and gallery space, preserving three soundproof studios in the process.
Over the past 20 years, the trio of studios has been used periodically for a spectrum of both county and independent projects.
“This unique collaboration will expand arts education and access to the wider Arlington community and provide the opportunity to share knowledge and resources,” Katie Cristol, county board chair, said in a prepared statement.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
