WTJX Scraps Original Rebuild Plan After Construction Bids Soar Past Budget

ST. THOMAS: The Virgin Islands Public Broadcasting System is abandoning its initial procurement strategy for reconstructing its Haypiece Hill facility after receiving three construction bids that substantially surpassed the available budget.

During a Friday board meeting, WTJX Chief Executive Officer Tanya-Marie Singh reported that a design quote alone had approached $500,000. The Legislature approved the broadcaster's request for approximately $4.9 million in fiscal year 2027 funding but declined to grant additional money the station had sought.

The broadcaster will now issue a fresh request for proposals that merges design and construction into a single contract, moving away from the original plan to handle these elements separately. Singh indicated the Haypiece Hill project would require several more years to complete and said WTJX intends to request an extension of its temporary lease.

Financial pressures on the station extend beyond the facility rebuild. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supplied federal funds to public television and radio stations, dissolved in January 2026 after Congress cut its funding. PBS has since distributed a draft proposal that would alter how member station dues are computed, counting only station revenue and excluding funds raised for endowments and capital projects.

Singh had warned legislators in August that the reduction of roughly $1.3 million in annual federal support posed risks to staffing, operations and other financial commitments.

Despite these obstacles, WTJX has made headway on other properties, including work at Mountain Top on St. Thomas and improvements at its Richmond location on St. Croix.

The broadcaster received Federal Communications Commission construction permits for six television translators, low-power devices that retransmit signals to regions outside a station's main coverage area. WTJX identified two translators on St. Thomas and two on St. Croix as its immediate priorities, with a three-year window to finish construction.

Progress on FM radio translators has stalled following a discovery that FCC applications intended to remain confidential were apparently made public. The FCC has taken its filing system offline, and WTJX awaits further steps by federal regulators.

The station is also developing new programming, including a special Trial Watch edition featuring complete, unedited audio from the federal corruption trial of former Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O'Neal. The recordings capture conversations with cooperating witness David Whitaker that were presented to jurors. Both were convicted on all counts in December 2025 and sentenced in June 2026, with Martinez receiving 10 years in federal prison and O'Neal seven years.