Community Projects: Jamestown
Despite the challenges, developers and business owners throughout the state are stepping up to the challenge rehabbing old buildings to invest in the future of their community.
In Jamestown, several such projects have taken place. Developers are trying to create an inviting downtown that draws residents and tourists to the area. “Right now we’ve really had a shot in the arm,” said Charlie Kourajian of the Jamestown Main Street Downtown Association. “A few of our empty buildings have been occupied now and revitalized and renovated.” According to Kourajian, this is a sign that business owners see opportunities in downtown Jamestown and that the current atmosphere of cooperation is a sign of long term success.
At one key intersection, two blocks of buildings are being remodeled for new uses. A bank is now a coffee shop, a department store is now a restaurant, and a downtown institution is being given a facelift. The three projects are being undertaken by independent developers who are cooperating to ensure that their enterprises complement, not undercut, each other’s ventures.
Developer Mike Marcil is revamping 55,000 square feet that once housed two bar and lounges. The new Continental Bistro was designed with an Italian menu. “The reason we’re picking that change is to totally complement the other developers in Jamestown that have come in downtown,” according to developer Mike Marcil. “we’d like to make Jamestown that tourist destination off the highway kind of place.”
A few blocks from downtown Jamestown, sits an old public school building – turned technology center. In 2001 Chris and Roy Sheppard wanted to expand their business space and by chance found the Franklin School Building fit their needs. Today the CSI Technology Center houses the local cable and television company, a learning center and a computer networking business.
The Sheppard’s have made an extreme effort to maintain the original features of the old school building, even going so far as to cut walls around blackboards and chalk trays.
“This historic building provides something a new building can’t,” according to Chris Sheppard of CSi Cable. “It provides a history, it provides and energy that you can’t get in a new building.”
Alumni of the school often visit the building and appreciate the efforts the Sheppards have made to maintain the school’s original fixtures and furnishings. Classroom chalkboards often carry messages that visitors have penned. “We’re pleased that they [visit]. It means we’ve done something important to them – and that was important to us,” said Sheppard.
The architectural character of Jamestown’s main street blends both old and new buildings harmoniously.