The annual Downtown Jamestown Holiday Parade attracts thousands of people each year. (Photo courtesy of jrconline.org)

JAMESTOWN – The weather should cooperate for the annual Downtown Jamestown Holiday Parade, taking place Friday night along third street.

Thousands of people are expected to line the streets for the Winter Games Christmas Parade and Holiday Celebration, coordinated by the Downtown Jamestown Renaissance Corporation and presented by The Resource Center. Organizers say this year’s Winter Games theme is an acknowledgement of the upcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea.

The event will feature pre-parade musical entertainment, a traditional tree lighting ceremony, and a fireworks display above the Spring Street parking ramp.

The parade itself will begin at 6:30 p.m. on the Third Street Bridge and continue down Third Street toward City Hall.

Parade line up will begin at 5 p.m. on West Third Street between Hallock Street and Porter Avenue.

For more information on the parade and activities, visit www.jamestownrenaissance.org.

In all, twelve projects in three well-defined clusters have been approved under the program, representing over $400,000 in new downtown investment. JRC, with support from the Gebbie Foundation, will provide $145,000 in matching grants to support the work.

In the past, the JRC has worked with property owners on a case-by-case basis to improve the facades and interiors of over 20 buildings. Under the new program, projects need to be clustered together to maximize the impact of investment and build confidence. This year, merchants and property owners were asked to talk to each other, identify project clusters, and submit an application.

Jim Goodling, Downtown Project Associate for JRC, praised the downtown community for responding so well to the program. He said the JRC staff was uncertain how property owners would respond to working with their neighbors when this program was announced,, but the number of projects proposed clearly shows that people are very willing to work together to improve downtown Jamestown.

Three clusters of projects were awarded funds.  The first is a group of three buildings on North Main Street near the intersection with first street. The second cluster involves buildings owned by Brian and Shayleen Taylor near the intersection of Second and Main Streets.  The final cluster of buildings on East 2nd and 3rd Streets and includes renovations to the Reg Lenna Civic Center and Mariner’s Pier Express Restaurant, as well as an art mural project at Infinity Visual and Performing Arts. Major façade renovations will also be made to Dugan’s Tavern and the Hall and Piazza Law building.

Work on most of the projects should be completed by the end of 2013.  Some work has already begun.

The program, which was announced in a media release on Tuesday, offers matching grants to groups of self-defined property owners and merchants who wish to improve their section of downtown.  The improvements involve one of the following criteria: façade and signage improvements, upper floor renovations or building access, interior retail space enhancements, or streetscape improvements. 

Lombardi says work is expected to improve the appearance, utilization and profitability of the buildings, adding that the new downtown program is modeled after the JRC’s original Renaissance Block Challenge – a neighborhood revitalization program that supports groups of at least five neighboring property owners with exterior improvements. That program, now in its third year, has assisted 90 property owners in 11 separate neighborhood clusters.

Preliminary applications for the Downtown Renaissance Block Challenge are now available and must be submitted by March 8. Anyone interested in learning more about the program or receiving application material should contact Jim Goodling at 664-2477, extension 223, or at jim@jamestownrenaissance.org.

We will have more with Lombardi on the program as well as other JRC initiatives during this week’s Community Matters program, airing at 6 p.m. Thursday on WRFA.