American Chronicles 1 originally airing June 5, 2015.
THE NATIONAL CENTER OF COMEDY
© 2015 John C. Merino
This nearly 30 year old idea is finally moving toward becoming a reality primarily because of the “Team” compiled to make it happen. There is no question, in my estimation, that the financiers and development team know what they’re doing. I’ve been part of the deliberative process with many of these folks, and “eyes on the Prize” is light as compared to their level of “get ‘er done”……..and making it happen. I have every confidence in the plan.
So, let’s look at some of the challenges that attaining the successful perpetuity of the Comedy Center will require.
OK, it’s built. The attendance projections as reported by the Post Journal exceed 100,000 visitors per year. Absolutely, for the day trip families and senior traveler, Jamestown is an adventure within the geographic proximity of millions of auto and excursion travelers. Even a cursory review supports the theory.
Yet, access from the North is woeful.
As community business and political leadership is standing behind the Comedy Center, so to must they face the other challenges this effort requires if it is to be sustained.
The needed widening of Route 60, making access to Jamestown less cumbersome and appealing to both expanded commercial needs and tourist travel is a must. It is time to lobby aggressively for a Route 60 expansion. Our County Executive has to lead the effort
If we started the initiative today, it will be a decade before we see a project underway which benefits Jamestown and Chautauqua County overall. It is an absolute must do. If the consultants are to be proven right in their attendance projections easy access from the north has to be part of the broader community plan.
We, the Southern Chautauqua County community, deserve easy access for travelers from the north….millions of potential Canadian visitors……..coming to the Reg, Robert H. Jackson Center, Fenton History Center, Lucy/Desi, Audubon, Jamestown Saving’s Bank Arena, Roger Tory Peterson Nature Center, Gateway Train Station, to see and hear the 10,000 Maniacs and yes visit the Chautauqua Institution…….which leads me to another topic about their willingness to outreach to the greater Jamestown Community…….but that discussion is for another episode.
So where will all these visitors stay? I can tell you from experience that major Ice Events at the arena have drawn thousand’s of families over the years….and at times tournaments lasting a full weekend, finds visitors having to stay as far as 30 miles away from our community.
The proposed Comedy Center brings to light the many aspects of broader community support required if it is……..ultimately……… to be a success.
Building a sense of local pride among the average citizen and getting them to be part of the marketing effort is also needed. Look at Buffalo. After decades of decline it has positioned itself to be reborn, through waterfront and urban development efforts, aggressive neighborhood revitalization and citizen inclusion in the overall community planning. It has become a community where the average citizen is excited about the future and says so.
Here in Jamestown, I still hear the “Nay Sayers” at all walks of life from the mechanic to business executives privately maligning Lucy and the idea that a national comedy center can be the economic engine that will bring wealth to Jamestown in the 21st. Century. It is time to……..well, let me say it………shut these folks up!
OK………..so we need better access from the north, more quality hotel room availability, realistic expectations that the marketing projections can be attained and finally a community wide educational effort which includes the average citizen in the process and helps them understand their role in promoting our community.
This thing………this National Comedy Center……..can have the opposite impact chasing George Eastman out of town had, over 100 years ago.
Rather than putting the local wagons in a circle and being parochial about the comedy idea in the way industrialists of the day reacted to Eastman, we need a bigger band-wagon……….one that holds every community member.
This is not a “pie in the sky” idea. It is the future of Jamestown.
Though we struggle with crime, drugs, property conditions, unemployment and the like……so does every city in America.
The difference is that we have a rare, once in a lifetime opportunity, to turn the corner toward success. As urban planners and developers will tell you, it takes 20 years for a city to deteriorate and much longer to rebuild it.
The current partnership of public and private players understands that. The National Center of Comedy…………it’s no joke folks. Based upon my reading of the effort…………Its our communities future economic engine.
I’m John Merino and this is American Chronicles.
ABOUT: American Chronicles is a bi-weekly locally produced feature on WRFA written and produced by retired Gebbie Foundation CEO, John C. Merino. Currently, John is an Adjunct Professor of Micro-Economics, Organizational Management, and 20th Century World History at Mercyhurst University. American Chronicles airs twice monthly, Friday mornings at 7:15 and Friday Afternoons at 4:35. American Chronicles features original stories (partly fact and partly fiction), commentary on local, state , national, world conditions and more.
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