the location of the studio was in the back of plagman's store (formerly known as the palmer building) at the corner of 9th st. and highway 71 in milford, iowa. plagman had become acquainted with vic blacketer who was a distributor of radio broadcast gear in des moines, iowa. seeking his advice, blacketer gave his approval on the space the trio chose for the studio. using sun studio in memphis as a "template", igl was built in approximately 5 months at a cost of over $10,000 for gear and an undetermined cost for the labor the trio put into the project. adjusted for inflation the cost would now be over $82,000 for the gear alone. the partners decided to name the facility after the area in which it was built. although the endeavor was officially incorporated as the iowa great lakes recording company, inc. the "inc." was often left unsaid as the name was already a mouthful.