An artist’s rendering of the proposed National Comedy Center in downtown Jamestown.

JAMESTOWN – The city of Jamestown is doing its part to ensure that a National Center for Comedy will be built in the downtown area within the next few years.

On Monday night, Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi updated the city council on what the city needs to do to help make the comedy center project a reality. The comedy center is being proposed by the Lucy-Desi Center and Museum and is slated to be built on W. Second St. between the Washington St. Bridge and the Gateway Train Station.

In order for that to happen, Teresi said the city will have to sell city-owned property to the comedy center developer. The property includes the Board of Public Utilities substation at 203 W. Second St. and the portion of Rose Alley that was recently abandoned by the city. The combined assessed value of both properties totals $130,000.

Teresi said that prior to the sale, the BPU will have to take the substation off line, which is scheduled to take place by the end of this year, once the construction of a new substation along Isabella Ave. in the city is completed. Also before any sale is to take place, the developer of the comedy center must meet four conditions – which include: ending the city’s public use of the property; having the developer buy the property at fair market value; an environmental review of the property must be conducted with the city being indemnified from any possible remediation; and the developer must be able to have funding in place in order to make the project a reality.

The city planning commission will review the sale proposal next month and offer its recommendation to the city council. The council will then hold a public hearing on the sale of the property followed by a vote, which requires a 75 percent majority vote by the council – or a minimum of 7 out of 9 votes.

If all goes according to plan, the $33.5 million National Comedy Center would open in July of 2016.

Gunderson offers details on a plan to develop a National Center for Comedy in Jamestown, plus she provides information on this year’s Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, taken place Aug. 6-10, 2014 and which includes appearances by Jay Leno, Tom Cotter, Caroline Rhea and many others!

• More information on the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival
• More information on the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum & Center for Comedy

ABOUT: Community Matters is a half-hour public affairs program airing every Thursday evening at 6 p.m. and Sunday at Noon on WRFA-LP 107.9 FM in Jamestown, N.Y.