WTNH Studios

In 1948, the New Haven register along with WNHC radio founded the WTNH news station, the first news station between New York and Boston.  WTNH is the second-oldest news station in New England, marking New Haven as an important urban hive in the mid-20th century.  The DuMont Television Network was the first affiliate of the station, which added NBC and CBS as affiliates in 1949, and ABC in 1950. [1]  Under these nation-wide affiliations WTNH was ultimately able to construct its own building.  In 1982 PTA Associates, a New Haven architecture firm, was hired to design the WTNH building on 8 Elm St in a brownstone style.  In 1983, the news studio moved in and the building became headquarters for channels 8 and 59. In 1999, the station transitioned to be only channel 8 and myTV channel 9.  The studio sits on the intersection of Elm and State streets marking the boundary between downtown New Haven and the Wooster Square Neighborhood— a location representative of its role as both a central city business and a key player in the daily lives of locals.



WTNH has been the sole tenant of 8 Elm St, but the building has undergone two sales among the telecommunications affiliates of WTNH.  On January 1, 1986 an unknown owner, which could be stipulated to be the DuMont Television Network, sold the property for $2,000,000 to Cook Inlet Communications.  On December 29, 1994 Cook sold to Lin Television Corporation for $7,570,000.  Lin Television Corporation remains the owner and current affiliate of WTNH.  Since its construction the building has depreciated by thirty percent.[2]  The exterior appearance of this brownstone has not changed since 1982 but for the introduction of a darker brick pattern on the ground floor walls after a 1999 remodel of the first floor interiors.



Description: A two-story brownstone building occupied by one tenant. The wall heights are 12 feet.  The total occupiable area is 43,424 square feet.  It has an additional 20,000 square foot outbuilding.



Exterior wall 1: brick



Roof: Flat



Frame type: Masonry



Interior wall 1: Drywall/Plaster



Interior floor 1: Fin WD/Carpet



Interior floor 2: Vinyl/ Asphalt



Original Program: Land Use Code 3400, Office Building MDL-94



Subareas: First floor 24504 ft, canopy 96 ft, cathedral ceiling 384 ft, open porch 700 ft, finished upper story 19916 ft, and unfinished basement 144 ft. [2]



Land History:



1650: Christopher Todd owned the Grist Mill on Elm St, occupying the lot for 8 Elm St. [3]



1923: 8 Elm St is known as the Todd building. [4]



City of New Haven Building Department - Building Permits:



02/06/1985  4,000 gallon gasoline tank and pump installed underground



12/24/1986  Steel platform erected on the roof for antennae mount.



12/30/1986  Storage room enlargement



11/02/1990  3 Channel 8 electrical signs installed



04/26/1995  Permit to install Channel 59 signs



04/16/1999  Removal of Channel 59 signs.



12/22/1999  Demolition of existing offices and studios. Remodel architect: Theriault Landman



02/04/2000  Electrical permit



09/21/2012  Minor interior renovations to the first floor



09/19/2013  Electrical permit for the installation of two reader controllers and customer provided card readers



[1] Leeney, Robert. J.  Elms, Arms and Ivy.  New Haven in the Twentieth Century.  Montgomery: Community Communications Inc., 2000.



[2]  Assessors Online Database For New Haven, CT. Vision Government Solutions, Inc, 23 Sept. 2013. Web.



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[3] Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut.  Vol I.  New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1923.  11. 



[4] Bowers, M.L. Nirenstein’s National.  Preferred Real Estate Locations of Business Properties: New England States Edition 1946.  Springfield: Nirenstein Co., 1946.



Additional Sources:



City of New Haven Building Department, 200 Orange Street, Fifth Floor.



The Connecticut Historical Commission Building Survey, New Haven Museum and Historical Society Library.



The Dana Collection, New Haven Museum and Historical Society Library.



New Haven City Directories.  New Haven: The Johnson City Directories, [1982, 1986, 1987].



The Wooster Square Neighborhood Exhibit, New Haven Museum and Historical Society Library.