LEAVENWORTH — KOHO radio is migrating downstream to Wenatchee.

The eclectic, music-and-news station’s parent company, Icicle Broadcasting, has purchased the old KPQ building at the corner of North Mission and First streets.

Station manager Elliott Salmon says renovation work will begin soon and the move should happen sometime “before the snow flies.”

He declined to name the purchase price, which is not yet listed with the Chelan County Assessor.

It’s a big move for the station, which since its birth in 1999 has broadcast from an office among the evergreens at Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort.

But Salmon says the time has come.

“The location at Sleeping Lady is great, but not really conducive to our business,” he said Tuesday. “We feel like our product is not necessarily a direct relation to where our facility is located. Leavenworth will still be a very important community when it comes to local news and events.”

The move will allow the company to put its broadcast and sales functions under one roof. Currently Icicle has a separate sales office in Wenatchee.

Both KOHO 101.1 and SMOOTH 94.7 will broadcast from the building’s 5,000-square-foot ground floor, which is more than twice the size of the current, 2,000-square-foot office at Sleeping Lady. The second floor will available for lease, Salmon said.

Another of Icicle’s stations, KOZI FM, will stay in Chelan.

The station covers the entire Wenatchee Valley, but Salmon says more than half its listeners and much of its advertising revenue is in Wenatchee.

The music mix, local news, on-air personalities and BBC programming and signal strength will stay the same, he said.

Harriet Bullitt, owner of Icicle Broadcasting, said in a news release, “This move is an opportunity to provide better service to the greater Wenatchee and surrounding areas. It’s a step in the continuous growth and improved coverage for our listeners.”

Christine Pratt: 665-1173

pratt@wenatcheeworld.com