Changing Downtown

Jamestown Post-Journal, 9/18/2011

Excerpt: The 1986 data was internalized in a private consultant report for a proposed Civic Center Development District in downtown Jamestown. Using the reborn Reg Lenna Civic Center at its starting point, it envisioned this Third Street locale and other key structures as anchors to support an expansive redevelopment.

The study considered several opportunities - new buildings, the rehabilitation of aging structures and land clearance - to promote an array of attractions, including new office space, retail, hotel/residential, cultural/institutional, open spaces and transportation/parking.

It accepted that retail had largely taken flight to the Chautauqua Mall and beyond to Erie and Buffalo. But it stated potential remained, as shoppers who come to downtown Jamestown "do so in conjunction with other activities - they work downtown, or have business or doctor's appointments, or are attending a cultural event."

But its prescription for a healthy business mix veered toward bold plans to attract wider regional investment. An amphitheater in Tracy Plaza next to a new towering office building, a riverside hotel, and the anticipation of Reg Lenna's repertoire, would be bound together with a new pedestrian-friendly streetscape, it revealed in drawings.

Other concepts rested on firmer ground. The study suggested addressing highly visible vacancies including the Grants and Arcade buildings and Broadhead Mills below First Street. Key rehabilitations, it stated, "must be part of a larger strategy which includes development of complementary office and cultural space in the city hall area, providing increased downtown activity and demand."