Officials cut ribbon for reopening of Potter’s Terrace (November 2, 2022)

Officials cut the ribbon to reopen a renovated Potters Terrace Park in downtown Jamestown Wednesday afternoon.

The park, owned by the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation, had been closed since 2019 due to issues with the wood structure that used to cover an 8-foot hole beneath the park. That structure was removed and the hole filled in back in 2021.

JRC Urban Core Director Frank Besse said the park features trees and shrubbery, “..limestone benches and tables, different large boulders that can be used as seating or as kind of an area to run and jump and play if you’re a younger frequenter of downtown. And it’s a place where you can take a break, maybe, from your job downtown. Or if you live downtown, to get some fresh air. But it’s that congregation place, ‘Oh, I’ll meet you down at Potter’s Terrace,’ to maybe go shopping downtown or before a show, or just catch up with somebody or perhaps read a book.”

Besse said Leaf and Stone Architecture designed the space with Sivak Stonemasonry performing the construction work. He said facade work will be done soon on the neighboring Chamber of Commerce Building as well as the facade of the building next to Potter’s Alley, “A long standing project of the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation has been what we call ‘Potter’s Gallery.’ This public art that we see on buildings neighboring on Potter’s Alley. So, the oldest of those pieces is about nine years old and is showing weather. So what we’ve done is work with Jamestown Public Schools to find more local student artwork, get that printed, and hung up here. So, hopefully we’ll see that here in the next few weeks to a month.”

Besse said the facade work will hopefully be completed on the Chamber Building by Spring.

The project was funded through a grant of $200,000 from the Gebbie Foundation with some support by Community Development Block Grant funds from the City of Jamestown.

Reconstruction of Potter’s Terrace on East Third Street underway (August 1, 2022)

Construction is underway at the former Potter’s Terrace Park on East Third Street in downtown Jamestown.

Jamestown Renaissance Corporation Urban Core Director Frank Besse said Sivac Stone Masonry is working at moving stone and earth on the site, “We have some large, custom, steel-fabricated planters that are being moved and located. And the last couple of pieces are showing up this week to really kind of define the space. And we’re hopefully within three to four weeks left in construction and we’ll have a great public space back in downtown.”

The park, owned by the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation, has been closed since 2019 due to issues with the wood structure that used to cover an 8-foot hole beneath the park. That structure was removed and the hole filled in back in 2021.

Besse said the goal is to create a public space that didn’t need to be programmed with events or activities in order for people to want to use it, “It’s going to be programmed with some benches, other seating, tables, as well as a lot of trees and shrubs kind of greenery there to juxtapose with the downtown and it’s architectural significance there.”

Besse added it will be a great space for people to meet, have lunch, or just sit and read.

Besse said the project is being funded through a grant from the Gebbie Foundation as well as Community Development Block Grant funds from the City of Jamestown. He said it will probably end up costing just over $200,000 once construction is complete.

The property located at 402 Lakeview Avenue was sold to the adjacent property owner on Van Buren Street for $200. Associate Corporation Counsel Ben Haskins said the property was acquired using 19A in 2018 by the city. After severe issues with the structure were found, including foundation issues, an emergency demolition was ordered. Haskins said a request for proposal put out in July 2021 only gained interest from one buyer. The $200 offered will cover what the City paid the county in property taxes in 2021.

The Commission also approved a site plan update for Potters Terrace from Leaf+Stone Landscape Architecture Architect Joe Rollman.

Rollman said the plan has been updated from when it was last presented to the Planning Commission in September based on the comments at the meeting.

The space will have room for tables and benches, in addition to boulders at the back of the park to be used as seating, “And we’ve got plans for some intimate scale lighting in terms of landscape lighting, being some uplighting in the tree canopy, and some light bollards. The space was designed with universal access in mind, so we’ve accommodated the grade change through the use of some steps as well as a ramp system so the site will be accessible for all users and all mobility.”

Construction on the space located at East Third Street next to Potter’s Alley will start this Spring or Summer depending on the availability of materials.

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley spoke with Jamestown Renaissance Corporation Executive Director Frank Besse on rehabilitation work happening at Potter’s Terrace–AIDS Memorial Park

“A fairly simple solution, but fairly complicated when you have its location intersecting with the alley and street there, the sidewalk and drainage issues, so that took some time to do. We went through the permitting process with the city and got the A-OK to start demo-ing the actual wood platform there and filling that in with dirt.”

Besse says the park will become a green space with some benches for now. He said there have been discussions about how to handle the AIDS Memorial that’s been part of the park since the late 1990s,

“So we’re trying to figure out what the best thing is to do there. We were talking about having some sort of piece of art or statue that commemorates what the site was. Also considering moving it to maybe a more appropriate location, but something that is respectful of the memory and the idea that it had back over 20 years ago when it was originally installed.”

Besse said those interested in being part of discussions about the AIDS Memorial may contact him at frank@jamestownrenaissance.org. He added funding for the rehabilitation of the site is being provided by the Gebbie Foundation.

• LISTEN TO INTERVIEW AT SOUNDCLOUD

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown Renaissance Corporation (JRC) says it’s currently in the process of evaluating what the future has in store for Potters Terrace in downtown Jamestown.

Potters Terrace in downtown Jamestown is owned by the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation and has been fenced off to the public since late July 2019.

The unique Potters Terrace wood park is located on the northwest corner of Third Street and Potters Alley. The park covers about 3300 square-feet of area and is made entirely of wood decking. It is not a park owned or maintained by the city and was instead built by the Civic Center Development Corp (later becoming the Downtown Jamestown Development Corporation or DJDC) as a place holder to cover up a vacant lot until it could be redeveloped. During its 30-year history, there’s been little development interest for the property and, as a result, the park has become a popular fixture of downtown Jamestown.

When the DJDC dissolved in 2013, the ownership of the property passed over to the JRC, which owns it under the name Winter Garden and Potters Terrace LLC. It is currently one of two properties owned by the JRC – the other being the Wintergarden Plaza on North Main Street.

According to JRC executive director Peter Miraglia, the park actually covers up the old basement and foundation of a building that once sat on the site. He said the structural integrity of the old foundation has recently grown to be a concern for the JRC.

“The (wood) structure is actually free standing, but the former building foundation itself is holding up a lot of stuff. The north wall is load baring and holding up the grade from the buildings up on Fourth Street. And the east wall is supporting a part of Potters Alley, so it’s kind of a tricky situation. Water is actually getting in there through the north wall and a beam is now broken in half and the foundation below it is now crumbling,” Miraglia recently told WRFA.

As a result of the foundation issues, the JRC decided in July it would be a safety hazard to keep the park open. It was fenced off and now the JRC board is considering options on what to do with the property.

One option is to rebuild a new Potters Terrace wood park. But Miraglia says that may not be financially viable due to the projected cost, which would not only require new material for the wood park, but also engineering work for the foundation area under the park. That means any renovation of the park would likely cost at least $100,000.

Looking southwest toward Potters Terrace from Potter Alley.

“The foundation on the Third Street side of the property and on the side where the air museum was looks pretty good. It’s the north and east wall. We’re evaluating that and that’s our primary issue right now is to stabilize it. We have to come up with funds of course and we don’t have that in our budget, so that’s what we’re dealing with right now,” Miraglia said.

Another option is to sell the property for redevelopment. It sits adjacent to a currently vacant building at the northeast corner of North Main and East Third Streets. The building (300 N. Main Street) had originally served as a location for Community Bank. It was then acquired by the Lucy-Desi Center in 2002. In recent years Lucy-Desi leased the space to the Lucille M. Wright Air Museum. But the air museum has since moved out and earlier this year the property was sold to the Gebbie Foundation. The foundation hasn’t yet announced any future plans for the building, although there’s the possibility it will eventually see some sort of renovation if any development interest comes forward. Whether or not the Potters Terrace property is part of any future development effort at the Gebbie property remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, as the future of Potters Terrace is discussed, the future of the Chautauqua County AIDS Memorial at the property has also grown to be a concern for some members of the community.

The memorial was also established in the early 1990s as a space to commemorate those county residents who lost their lives to the disease, with the plaques of their names being placed in an area of the wood park. But due to vandalism over the years, some of the plaques have been removed. To make matters worse, Miraglia says the JRC is having a hard time replacing the plaques because they are unable to locate a list of the names on the memorial.

Now a group of local residents have created a petition, urging the JRC to keep the Potters Terrace wood park in place, complete with the AIDS memorial. The group is also asking the city to get involved in helping to renovate the park and memorial, even though the property is currently privately owned by the JRC.

The JRC is inviting the public to offer thoughts on the future of the property and that can be done by email or calling the office. Miraglia said a public input session will also likely take place at some point later this month.

• ALSO AVAILABLE AT SOUNDCLOUD

Originally airing Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019.

WRFA’s Jason Sample interview Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi. The mayor discusses the status of bargaining unit contracts, the Fund for Downtown Programming, Housing programs, and the Potters Terrace / Wood Park closure by the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation.

Sam Teresi