Tom Benson - National Comedy Center

 

John Lloyd introduced Tom Benson.  Managing Director of Vineyard Group and Chairman of the National Comedy Center.  

 

Tom thanked the Rotary Club for inviting him.  He mentioned that it was always a great opportunity to talk about The National Comedy Center (NCC).  The NCC is a project that is in perpetual motion.  Things change on a daily basis. NCC has already completed the first piece of the puzzle, which was comedy center park.  

 

In the next year, the plan is to increase the programming at comedy center park and make it a destination.  Currently, the city of Jamestown is constructing two pedestrian walkway bridges which will provide access from all the way around the Chadakoin river basin.  The city is also constructing a separate stair system as well that will feature an elevator for access for people with disabilities. Tom also gave us an overview of architectural drawings that feature a complete footprint of the entire comedy center.

 

The NCC will have a number of interactive, unique and personalized experiences.  These experience are being completed in separate phases.  To illustrate his point, Tom shared a drawing of the entrance park area of NCC.  Outdoor park area will include large TV screens for entertainment and block parties.  This location will always be public because NYS Parks gave them a $500,000 grant to build that part of the project.

 

 

NCC is national non-profit attraction and cultural institution dedicated to the celebration of comedy in America.  The NCC will honor the craft of comedy with world class exhibits.  NCC is not a traditional artifact-based museum or hall of fame.  NCC will feature individualized interactive and experiential journeys throughout time across all comedy and media types.  It will be a true tribute to the art and craft of comedy.  

 

The NCC will feature 9 main zones, 70 attractions. Hologram technology will be front and center.  One of the coolest features of the NCC, is the ability for each visitor to receive an RFID enabled chip that saves their experience as they move through the center.  Depending on what type of humor genre you selected when registering, the chip will move you through different sections of the center.  

 

NCC consists of Comedy Center Park and over 35,000 square feet of attraction space, which includes the current train station.  The NCC is a $22 million project, that estimates over 120,000 visitors per year and an economic impact of over $22 million.  

 

The NCC is part of the future of NYS tourism.  The center will allow people who come to Niagara Falls, the chance to travel to Jamestown and stay in the area one more day.  This really becomes a major part of the revitalization of update New York and the western New York economy.  This is evident in the support the NCC has received from New York State and the Buffalo Billion 2 initiative.  

 

Tom also shared the work completed year to date.  The design process is complete and they are currently working on construction of Phase B and C.  Bidding and attraction components will be phase D.  Capital funding process will be completed in April and opening of the NCC is contingent upon solidification of remaining capital funds.  

 

NCC will be a contributor to the local economy and will never be a drain.  The endowment that will be created will handle any deficits that may arise.

 

To learn more about the National Comedy Center, please visit www.comedycenter.org.