FARGO - The construction of an 18-story high-rise means downtown Fargo will soon have a more robust skyline. It also means Prairie Public Broadcasting has a problem.

The $98 million high-rise, known as the Block 9 project, is expected to obstruct the radio and TV signal Prairie Public sends from its downtown office building to a transmission tower in the Cass County town of Wheatland, one of several hubs that broadcast the signal across North Dakota, said John Harris, president and CEO of the broadcasting group.

Prairie Public is exploring solutions, but all of them would mean added costs for the nonprofit organization that faces possible cuts in state and federal funding, Harris said.

Prairie Public occupies a four-story building on Fifth Street North, tucked between the Radisson Hotel and American Federal Bank. On the backside of the building, there's a 125-foot monopole that sends the TV and radio signal to the Wheatland tower, Harris said.

Construction of the Block 9 project is set to start later this spring and end in 2019. Once it rises at the corner of Broadway and Third Avenue North, Prairie Public's signal will run smack into the 232-foot building, which will be the city's tallest.

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"It's line-of-sight technology," Harris said of the signal. "It won't penetrate through the building."

As a fix, Prairie Public is considering three options:

• Installing underground fiber-optic cable so the signal could reach the Wheatland tower. Over 10 years, this would cost a little more than $500,000, Harris said. A downside: "A backhoe can dig up fiber and take you off the air."

• Moving the monopole into the lot of the Fargo police station behind the Prairie Public building, adding 30 feet to the monopole for a height of 155 feet "and shoot over American Federal's building," Harris said. Prairie Public plans to meet with city officials next week to discuss this option, which would cost $100,000 or more to move the monopole, he said.

• Renting space on a nearby rooftop where Prairie Public could station equipment to send its signal to Wheatland. So far, the broadcaster hasn't been able to strike a deal on "rooftop rights," the prices of which vary depending on the building owner, Harris said.

The Block 9 developers - RDO, TMI Hospitality and Kilbourne Group, the firm founded by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum - and American Federal Bank have declined to rent roof space to Prairie Public, Harris said. Radisson was open to the possibility, but is asking too much in rent, he said.

Adrienne Olson, a Kilbourne Group spokeswoman, said Block 9 developers hope Prairie Public can find a workable solution.

"The partners involved in the Block 9 project and Prairie Public Broadcasting have met multiple times to discuss the television and radio signal tower that uses air rights that Prairie Public does not own," Olson said in a statement. "There have been many solutions discussed for relocation of the tower."

Whatever solution Prairie Public decides on, Harris said, he doesn't think it will affect listeners or viewers, except for maybe a period of interruption during the changeover.

As downtown keeps growing, Prairie Public has discussed simply moving to another neighborhood with fewer signal obstructions, Harris said. "But then again, you're talking about a much bigger cost than just moving a pole."