By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WEST CHESTER TWP. - The first phase of a three-part plan to recreate the 1940s Voice of America broadcast building as a public museum should be complete by the Fourth of July.

The VOA Bethany Station began relaying news and entertainment around the world in 1944.

While broadcasters delivered reports from Washington and New York, the signals were relayed to the Tylersville Road station in what is now West Chester Township and broadcast in more than 50 languages, waging war on Nazi Germany's radio propaganda.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it closed in 1994, and the big radio towers came down in 1997.

Now West Chester owns the VOA building and is converting it into a museum to honor the facility's legacy throughout World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars and the Cold War era.

West Chester Township and MetroParks of Butler County are transforming their portions of the 625 acres into parklands with recreation fields, a lake and other amenities.

The museum will be the only place the public can come to listen to an archive of VOA broadcasts. Some will be available for purchase.

State Sen. Scott Nein, R-Hamilton, grew up riding past the radio towers that hummed nonstop for 50 years. Each time the family drove past the towers, his parents pointed them out, speaking in awe of their important role and historical legacy.

"We shouldn't ever forget about the Cold War and what the country endured during that time," Mr. Nein said. "You always learn from history; and if you forget any of it, we are probably going to be in bigger trouble down the road."

The first phase of the estimated five-year project will cost about $100,000. It involves taking down interior walls and making the one-story museum safe. It was originally constructed in the Art Deco style with two separate units.

The administration section is two stories tall with a four-story central tower that served as a guard station and revolving searchlight beacon house.

The transmitter section was designed to accommodate six transmitters with their associated equipment.

Subsequent work will include heating and air conditioning, restorations inside and out, improved drainage and additional bathrooms. That phase will take the brick building to the point of being a public museum.

Township Trustee Catherine Stoker is helping to spearhead the project and the fund raising that will pay for it.

"VOA is probably one of the most important facilities in Ohio from World War II through the Cold War," Ms. Stoker said. "The Voice of America agency does not archive its broadcasts, but there are interested individuals and organizations who have archived some of them, so we are going to put out a call to collect those we can to build up a library."

The West Chester Amateur Radio Association restored one transmitter and the control console at the VOA building. It also dismantled and removed the remaining two transmitters.

The 30-member organization with the call sign WC8VOA will install an amateur radio station at the museum.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com.