The man who helped WYEP 91.3 FM become twice the station it was when he arrived 16 years ago is leaving his post as general manager.
Pittsburgh's alternative music public radio station on Thursday announced the pending departure of Lee Ferraro, who will continue his day-to-day duties until the end of July. The station will conduct a national search for his replacement.
"We're obviously sorry to see Lee moving on, but we respect his personal wishes, and we're grateful for the strong position in which he's left this unique community asset," WYEP board Chairwoman Linda McClintock said in a prepared statement.
Ferraro, 54, of Highland Park said he began contemplating the move early this year, after playing an instrumental role in the purchase of WDUQ 90.5 FM from Duquesne University.
The Wisconsin native said he plans to take some time off before deciding what to do next, whether that be in Pittsburgh or back home in the Midwest.
"I love Pittsburgh, and it's been good to me," Ferraro said. "It certainly would be hard to leave."
Since Ferraro's arrival in 1996, WYEP doubled its weekly listeners from 45,000 to 95,000 and its membership from 3,000 to 6,000 people, the station said. He also started the station's annual Summer Music Festival and helped create the Community Broadcast Center, the station's home in the South Side's Bedford Square that opened in 2006 as the first green, LEED-certified radio station facility.
Other major accomplishments during Ferraro's tenure include introducing education programming for children and the "Live and Direct" recording series; designing the station's logo; and securing partnerships with local organizations, including the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, the Parks Conservancy and the Allegheny Regional Asset District.
Ferraro arrived in Pittsburgh from Seattle, where he spent part of a year as music director for the Northwest Folklife Festival. Prior to that, he managed a public radio station in Grand Rapids, Mich., and served as business manager for a station in Champaign, Ill. Between those posts, he spent two years working with elderly Alzheimer patients at a nursing home in Washington state.
"That was a moving experience," Ferraro said.
