CAI, the public radio station that covers Cape Cod and the Islands, is poised to move to a new location in Falmouth rather than stay in the historic Captain Davis House in the village of Woods Hole.

GBH, which owns CAI, says it’s close to formalizing a relocation to Cape Symphony’s Falmouth campus. Station executives point to a newly renovated and easily accessible space that includes both parking and gathering space for public events.

Some community members and CAI staffers say they’re frustrated by GBH’s insistence on moving the station to a new location in Falmouth rather than allowing it to remain in its longtime home.

That frustration may have been exacerbated by GBH agreeing last fall to sell the Captain Davis House to a local community group, the Woods Hole Community Association. The group offered the station rent-free space in the building for five years, and said it would address any issues with the building that would prevent CAI from remaining in place.

“This building is fantastic on the inside and the outside,” said Amy Vince, the producer of CAI’s morning show “The Point” and a substitute host. “GBH invested a lot of resources, a lot of capital in this space. And why they’re walking away from it — seriously, it does not make sense to me. It’s such a head scratcher.”

Even with free rent and physical improvements paid for by the community group, remaining in the Captain Davis house, where CAI has operated since 2000, would be both costly and constricting, according to Susan Goldberg, GBH’s president and CEO.

She said that the ability to bring the public into the new space was particularly important.

“This investment in CAI’s local journalism would keep the station embedded in the community it serves while opening doors for it to welcome that community in with events and partnerships,” Goldberg said in a statement.

The new location is situated near approximately 400 acres of conservation land and walking and bike paths, as well as Highfield Hall and Gardens and the Highfield Theater.

Goldberg says the event space available in CAI’s likely new location could be used in a manner similar to event space at GBH’s studio at the Boston Public Library’s central library in Copley Square, which opened in 2016.

“We’ve been able to bring the community in to meet them and share experiences and speakers with them, to have events like jazz nights and NOVA trivia, to give opportunities for the public to ask elected officials questions live and in person,” Goldberg said. “The energy there has been incredible, and I can’t wait for what we might be able to do on the Cape at this new location.”

Nationwide, various public media stations have also opened community spaces in recent years. These types of spaces allow for more intentional connections with community members, station executives say.

‘An important building to preserve’

The developments are the latest in an ongoing back-and-forth over the state of the beloved CAI building.

In October, GBH announced it was selling the Captain Davis House and would relocate CAI to a location to be determined. Station executives said CAI was operating at a $500,000 annual deficit driven partly by significant costs associated with occupying the existing building, which dates to the 19th century. While a buyer had already been identified at that point, the announcement generated fierce backlash from community members who objected to not being consulted beforehand, as well as from journalists with ties to the station .

That opposition sparked a separate local push to purchase the Davis House, which succeeded after the Woods Hole Community Association (WHCA) raised $1.8 million in a matter of weeks. That included a $200 donation from Vince, the producer and fill-in host. After purchasing the building, the WHCA made its offer of free rent and physical improvements.

GBH declined that offer without providing specific reasons “beyond that the decision had been made,” according to Catherine Bumpus, the WHCA’s president.

“They had already come to the decision and … they were not going to reconsider,” Bumpus said.

“I was sad, honestly,” Bumpus added. “The community came together in a very strong way. ... But we knew that it was an important building to preserve no matter what, because we want to have a vibrant use in that space.”

Bumpus said future plans for the space will be formulated with community input, and that it will be used for “something that brings value and support to [Woods Hole] in some way.”

According to Goldberg, the costs of operating in an old building would remain high even given the WHCA’s largesse.

“Alternately, we have this opportunity to move into an updated studio custom built to house a modern-day radio station, and outfit it with what our staff needs,” Goldberg said.

'The sentinel building’

The Captain Davis House is located at 3 Water Street, in the center of Woods Hole. As its name suggests, it used to be a sea captain’s home.

Jay Allison, who founded CAI and runs Atlantic Public Media from inside the Captain Davis House, describes the building, just steps away from the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, as a perfect place to create public media focused on the Cape and Islands.

“It’s the sentinel building in the town. It stands right as you come into it,” said Allison, who has been a vocal critic of the impending move. “It’s a very public spot and it is accessible: We have lots of people who just make their donations by walking in off the main street there.”

Allison added the building “has history.”

“It’s next to the library, and next to that the historical association, and it has a lawn people sit on all summer, and it’s a common space,” he said. “So its location is beloved. … Everything’s perfect. It’s just the way it should be.”

Opposition to the move among CAI staff is widespread. Several employees who spoke with GBH News and asked not to be named due to fear of repercussions, criticized GBH for the impending relocation and the process surrounding it, and said morale was low as a result. But those sentiments are not universal.

Mindy Todd, who hosts “The Point” and is CAI’s managing director of editorial, said that after being told CAI was operating at a large annual deficit, her greatest concern was possible reductions in station staffing levels.

Instead, GBH has maintained CAI’s staffing levels, Todd noted. She described the station’s relocation as a challenge that could ultimately be worked through by those who feel a deep attachment to the Captain Davis House and the work that has been done there over the years.

“I understand the emotion and I understand the frustration,” Todd said. “Initially, it could have been handled a lot better for sure. But for me it comes down to saving my people, right? If we have to cut something because of the deficit, I would rather it be a building than staff.”

In an email this week, Goldberg acknowledged the complexity – and emotions – surrounding the decision to move.

“Change is hard, especially when it involves leaving a place where you have so much history,” Goldberg said. “But change can also be a great thing.”

This story was reported by Adam Reilly of GBH and edited by Eric Aasen with Connecticut Public. No members of GBH News’ leadership team were involved in the editing of this story, nor did they review it before it was published.