There were no shopping malls, McDonalds, interstate highways and very little industry. However, the one and only medical clinic was staffed by only a half-dozen GP doctors (no specialists). There were two hospitals (Douglas County and Our Lady of Mercy), which later merged into one. Angle parking on Broadway was still the rule. It was the year Alexandria celebrated its Centennial.
I had just graduated from college in June that same year, auditioned for the news director, on-air position and fortunately was awarded the opportunity. Its legacy, however, will forever be a part of the incredibly successful story of how a little known outstate community transformed itself from near obscurity to one of the more exciting, bustling, thriving, glittering, wondrous, beautiful and coveted cities in the Upper Midwest.įull disclosure: I happened to be one of the lucky 16 original employees at Channel 7 when it first went on the air on October 8, 1958. Like a Tiger Woods, the station was a champion for many, many years but now its call letters are rarely, if ever, mentioned in modern day Minnesota. Once looked upon as one of the “Largest Single Market Stations in the United States,” KCMT eventually succumbed, ironically, to the growth and progress it so effectively helped create. Its lights began to dim slowly but surely over the years as cable and satellite options for viewers expanded.
It’s true, KCMT (Central Minnesota Television) no longer exists.
The memories may be fading but the historic impact Alexandria’s early television station had in shaping the future of this city must never be tucked away and placed on a dusty shelf somewhere.
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