“Bainbridge Island Broadcasting, has a studio for the first time in its five years on the air.The Bainbridge Island School District, after considering the issue for some time, donated space in Commodore Center that officially opens with a reception, 5-7 p.m. May 10. It has been truly amazing to see how one very ugly elementary school classroom metamorphosed into a television studio, a control room, an editing room and a reception/meeting area, station manager Wini Jones said.BIB cameraman Kit Spier has been renovating the Commodore space for several months, partitioning the 1,225 square feet into distinct and useful spaces.Jones sacrificed her own carpeting to BIB, and the city gave her access to a storage unit filled with discarded furniture from the old city hall. Jones retrieved a desk, office chairs, filing cabinets and shelves.Northland Cable donated two studio cameras, cable and lights. We have a wonderful relationship with Northland, Jones said. Like the city, they see the value of public access television in the community. The Commodore facility enables the station to produce a wide variety of studio-based programming, Jones said, opening options beyond the location taping the channel has done since its first broadcast in 1997. Humble originsBainbridge’s community access channel came into being by default; BIB was formed in the early 1980s to be a radio station, but could not acquire a frequency.BIB president Mickey Molnaire, who joined the organization’s board in 1985, recalls years of research before the board realized they could not acquire a frequency – and several years of fundraising to pay for the research. In 1997, BIB finally began to broadcast on the local cable system, with early shows that included a forum by the Housing Resources Board on low-cost housing, and the Downtown Follies, a parody of island residents staged by the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce. Today, BIB programming is viewed in 7,000 island households, as well by some residents in Indianola, Suquamish and Hansville.The station broadcasts from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 8 p.m to 2 a.m. daily, showing such programming as the Walt Woodward memorial service, the recent Japanese puppet show at the Bainbridge Library, and a public meeting on the revitalization of downtown Bremerton. BIB also carries tapes from island organizations, such as the Land Trust. Jones would like more island groups to use the channel. She also hopes to carry Bainbridge Island School Board meetings, as BIB has city council meetings for several years. Molnaire and Jones are open to all sorts of new programming now that BIB has a new home.It was the intention of Bainbridge Island Broadcasting to be the canvas on which Bainbridge Island could paint, Molnaire said. Now we finally have an easel. “