City officials discuss how to proceed with the demo of a building at 10-12 E. Second St. in Jamestown following a roof collapse on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016. Two months later, a second building at 101 W. Third St. also experienced a partial collapse.
JAMESTOWN – The vast majority of the buildings in downtown Jamestown and across the city are in stable condition. That’s the message from Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, who tells WRFA that despite two recent partial collapses in downtown Jamestown the past few months, the city’s aging building stock is in good shape.
“Those two incidents are anomalies,” Teresi said. “Both of these building were on the city’s radar from the beginning. Obviously, in the game of beat the clock, the clock won in these instances.”
In October, the city had to do an emergency demolition for a dilapidated building at 10-12 E. Second St., which saw a partial collapse of its roof. Then in December just before Christmas, the former Betty Dixon Candy store, located at 101 W. Third St., saw a partial roof collapse in the back part of the building.
The mayor also said that the city will continue to monitor all structures in the downtown and elsewhere.
“We’re going to continue to keep an eye on the building stock of the community,” Teresi explained, adding that Jamestown has some of the oldest building stock in the country when compared to communities of similar size. “We have a very old, significant, and historical commercial building stock in our downtown area. We’re very proud of that. Most places have lost their historic structures downtown – at least the cities that are the same size and age as Jamestown.”
The mayor made his comments during an interview which will run Thursday afternoon on WRFA during our Community Matters program. In addition to the downtown buildings, the mayor also discusses what impact a new contract with the Chautauqua County sheriff’s Office deputies would have on a proposed public safety consolidation plan between the county and the city. He also discusses the Jackson Spring housing development, as well as what his expectations are for the Trump administration, as it pertains to Jamestown.
The interview begins at 5 p.m. Thursday on WRFA and will be rebroadcast at noon on Sunday.
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