Tory introduced Megan Arnone from the Northwest Savings Bank Ice Arena.  Megan was hired last October, right in the middle of the pandemic to oversee fundraising.  Megan spoke about the economic impact the Ice Arena has had on our area, and about the brand new 3 story addition that has recently been completed.
During 2019, the arena held an 8-day hockey tournament that had 250,000 turnstile visits and an estimated $900,000 economic impact to our county.  The Ice Arena is also the only year-round play area available in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegheny counties.
 
The new addition has 3 levels, the ground level is going to be rented to the National Comedy Center for their upcoming Hall of Fame exhibit.  The 2nd floor will be known as “The Zone” and will be filled with interactive sports themed activities for children aged 2-12.  All the activities are designed to be mentally and physically engaging.  They are continuing their fundraising efforts for this part of the project with a goal of raising the final $4M to have the space ready for a summer 2022 opening.  The third level is a combination of office space rented by the National Comedy Center to combine all their offices into one location as well as a beautiful space available to rent for private events, weddings, corporate events etc.  During the construction, they also remodeled the Jamestown Mattress Co. Arena Club area to make it more user friendly and is also available for rent.
 
Megan noted that anyone who would like a tour of the facilities is always welcome to come and enjoy a guided tour.