Today is the official 70th
anniversary of 12 News,
and for most of those years,
the station was located at Central Ave.
just north of Roosevelt,
before we moved into the heart f
downtown Phoenix more than a decade ago.
Tram and I recently went back
to our old building to see
what's changed after 13 years.
All right, so we're here off
Central and Portland, and Mark,
Can you believe it's been 13 years since
we've been back at our old station? I
cannot believe it. You know,
I just pulling in this parking t
brings back such memories for m.
In fact, right here when I
first came to 12 in 1980,
Bill Denny, rest his soul,
picked me up and he at the time he had
a red and white Trans Am that s.
12 sports on it. Wow.
And he parked right here.
OK, well, now it's changed.
It's the Parsons Center
for Health and Wellness.
What do you say we go in?
Let's go inside. I want to
see our old studio. Yeah,
this used to be Studio B.
Can you smell your cooking
from the Valley Dish days?
The Valley dish days? Yes. Thisd
to be our kitchen where we cook.
Do you remember standing back here behind the
chopping the onions?
Yes, with my onion goggles.
You with me for a couple of the shows.
I know we did some great shows.
We cooked matzo ball soup toget.
And what did you add to that so?
Maybe a little special subtle va
which created a big stir. Yes,
in the station, alcohol
was not allowed on the air.
This is the great wow.
It's so different. Remember havg
station meetings in here? Yes.
When corporate would come into n
and there's so many tables and e
whole station would gather in oe
room, these windows were here and you would
overlook that brick walls. Really. Yes.
So now this is the Southwest Cer
and Jessica Leach is the CEO.
Tell us what happens here.
So, so many great things happen here.
The Parsons Foundation created
this space for LGTQ agencies to
come together and the Southwest
Center is really that anchor sp.
For career healthcare and we are so grateful
for the history this building brings.
I know it seems strange to think
that being that the news buildi,
which is such a positive impact,
but all of the amazing stories t
come from here fuel the valley, right?
And so to be part of that histoy
has been fantastic. I'm
just glad that the station lived
on in another form and another
life form to do good things
that benefits the community.
So if you listen closely enough.
Can almost hear the police and fire scanners,
because where we're standing rit
now is where the assignment desk was,
which is where literally the
assignments were handed out forl
of the reporters and photograph.
That was like the central
nervous system of The Newsroom.
And to show you how far back this goes,
we would also hear not only the police and
fire scanners but also the typewriters.
Because when I first came here in 1980,
we were all using typewriters.
So what they're looking
at now is actually what's known
as one in 10, their youth cente.
But what used to be here
was our control room. I
remember sitting in here,
it was, it was teared like a
sort of like a movie theater.
It was always just a flurry of activity.
OK, so now this is Studio A.
Can you believe this? It's
so weird to walk in here and
not see the lighting grid.
I know and where the main set used to be.
In the center, towards the back.
This is where I got engaged in e
main studio and it was a big se.
It was a big surprise.
I think everybody knew except y.
I'm hoping that you will say ye.
Taking my end of marriage. Of ce
I would.
I was shocked. In the middle of thinking
that I was going to do a live interview and
I was working here when I got engaged,
I didn't do it on the air, but I was working
here. Oh, that's so special. Ye.
So many great memories. Yeah.
All right. So where we're sittig
used to be the main set, basica.
We're sitting where we used to sit. Yeah.
And I remember the very last ni,
we were all filled with emotion,
knowing that this we were excitd
about going to the new place, but very
sad and nostalgic about leaving here.
And it was the only time we
ever drank alcohol on the set.
But we had champagne and and tod
a big thank you to this building
for all of those great years.
Great memories.
Oh, you look the same.
And see. Yeah, yeah.
You know what's really interesting is,
look, a building is a building,
but it's the people that inhabit that
building and seeing all of those faces.
Brings. That's what brings back the memory.
It did bring back lots of memor.
My favorite memories when I
was doing weather one night.
That studio that you guys went
into flooded during the monsoon.
I remember that. And I'm doing weather.
We're talking about severe weat.
Squeezing the water out. Yes.
And it was literally on my feet.
He eventually had to get out of The Newsroom.
You know, one out of every hundred year range
just came down 3 or 4 inches in an hour.
Yeah, yeah.
Some great memories there.
Yeah, yeah. But hey,
we're hopefully making memories here too.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, we've.
Here for a long time.
I know 13 years.