Dan Heitzenrater had the privilege of introducing Michael Edwards, who joined our area this year as the Director of the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation, where he is responsible for downtown revitalization programming, including the organization, design, rehabilitation, economic and business development, and downtown marketing.
Prior to coming to Jamestown, Michael was the President and CEO of the Chicago Loop Alliance for 13 years and before that, worked leading the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, the Downtown Spokane Partnership, and he was also formerly a principal at Saratoga Associates, a New York State urban planning consulting firm.
Edwards is also a 2018 founding member of the Global Business District Innovation Club, based in Paris, France and he was also a senior fellow at the Institute of Place Management in Manchester, UK as well as a prior member of the International Downtown Association Board of Directors.
Edwards is a recognized expert in downtown management and frequently speaks internationally on key downtown opportunities and challenges.
Michael grew up in Northeast Pennsylvania and fondly remembers visiting the Buffalo area and its vibrant downtown during all the hustle, bustle and excitement of the holidays. His impressions of Jamestown are good and bad. He noted we are half the population that we used to be and the downtown is pretty much still the same size. The economy is challenging, not only on the local level, but the national and international levels as well. It is hard for every downtown to compete in today’s environment, not just Jamestown.
There are too many vacant storefronts and too many buildings in disrepair and there’s a disconnection between the utilization of the riverfront and our pretty, pretty, nice, downtown. However, downtown is a uniquely urban place in Chautauqua County.
He pointed out that there is an identifiable sense of arrival and place when you come into Jamestown with its beautiful historic properties, and we can build upon that. There are compelling national and regional attractions and there are amazing people who love this place. The city seems filled with makers, artists, and creators who are ready to make an impact on our community.
There is a generational change going on, not just in Jamestown, but in downtowns across the country. This was happening in Chicago and seemed a bit related to COVID – a change in ownership structures as well as a generational change. So, property owners, business owners, event organizers here in Jamestown – they’re new, they’re younger, they’re filled with energy. He cited Austin Lynn, who is focused on the Willow Bay building renovation as an example and Sukanya Berman and the Jamestown Dance Festival as some of the new things happening in Jamestown that we all need to embrace and take advantage of.
The Jamestown Renaissance Corporation was reorganized at the beginning of 2026 with Noah Goodling and Mayor Kim Ecklund as co-chairmen. They hired Michael Edwards as the new director, who started July 1st and began with consistent board meetings, consistent financial reporting and consistent communication, which had lagged since 2024. Edwards has met and talked with over 100 downtown stakeholders in the group in reviewing and revising all its policies and programs – taking a good look at those programs to determine if they should be continued or not.
At the same time, they have finished some things that were underway. 106 East 3rd St. got its new storefront; a feasibility study of the Field and Wright building was completed with the possibility of 19 units of housing to be added in that building; Wicked Warren has enhancements to their third floor space completed, which is an important amenity for larger gatherings in the downtown; the façade of the Chautauqua Art Gallery on the parking lot side has been improved with new lighting; the Fancher Chair Park has been improved and the Winter Garden Park was activated with partners Whirlybird during the 10,000 Maniacs weekend.
The JRC is continuing its 3-year efforts to bring meetings and conferences to Jamestown. The economic impact of a busload of 40 people coming in, spending money, and having a great time is a real economic way for Jamestown to begin to revitalize itself in its downtown core. This is just the first year of those efforts.
The JRC recently expanded its Board and has recruited Bobbi Sparr of Art Cloth and Craft, a storefront owner and operator on 3rd Street; Brandon O’Dell, general manager of the Doubletree Hotel; Nick Certo, owner of the Crown Street Roastery; Tracy Gates, CEO at UPMC Chautauqua (to help encourage medical personnel to relocate here); Amanda D’Arora, a BPU electrical engineer; Leslie Calimeri, owner of the Chautauqua Art Gallery; and Rob White, a recent retiree from Dahlstrom’s.
Future initiatives for 2027 include rebuilding a strong digital presence with new graphics, branding and a new website. They intend to put together a social media campaign and strategy for the entire year to reposition and take back the negative narrative that is affecting downtown Jamestown to present the city in a more positive light and hopefully engage more young people, who are the future of downtown Jamestown.
The group have learned that data is very important so they will carefully collect data to track parking volumes, resident populations and office worker trends. It is important to investors, to visitors, and to the city to understand the role downtown plays in city finances such as what percentage of property taxes, for example, come out of this core area compared to the rest of the city.
The group needs to know about parking volumes, are they increasing or decreasing; they need to know how many residents live downtown, is that number increasing or decreasing; how many office workers are downtown; they have been using past numbers of 2,765 people come into downtown every day. Business owners need to know if downtown is performing at a higher or lower level, and why.
JRC plans to do “pop-up” storefronts, utilizing attractive window clings that hide vacant storefronts but still make a statement on the street and also offer artist workshops or temporary businesses in empty storefronts. The JRC welcomes anyone who has an idea for a business to discuss it with them and they will attempt to help them work with other agencies such as the Small Business Development Center.
More established businesses that may want to open a second location or leave a shopping mall could be offered a rent abatement program to help ease the cost of coming downtown.
The group plans to do some unique events to invite YOU downtown to surprise you, create a memory and drive foot traffic. And finally, they want to connect with the Chadakoin River. This has long been considered a missed opportunity. There is funding proposed to host a mural festival which would improve the riverfront area and could be combined with music, dancing and the artwork.
In conclusion, Edwards stated the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation is intending to restore the public’s confidence and pride in their downtown. This would give the public the tools to comfortably challenge anything negative that we hear. The JRC intends to raise its impact and drive more people and more investment into the core and complete the urban experience. That will mean that when you come downtown, there’s a greater variety of things to do and see.
An interesting question and answer period followed regarding high parking costs; increased possibility for collaboration with Jamestown Community College and how can Rotary and other organizations better assist in recruiting young professionals to engage in these new urban developments?
