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Jul. 16—JAMESTOWN — The expansion project of The Arts Center is on schedule, said Mindi Schmitz, executive director.
“We should be open by September,” she said.
Work to renovate the former Wonder Bar adjacent to The Arts Center began in 2024, ramping up in the spring of 2025. The Jamestown Fine Arts Association, doing business as The Arts Center, purchased the building and launched a capital campaign, “Raising the Bar for the Arts,” to raise funds for the project.
“We’re still fundraising, we’re at the home stretch,” Schmitz said.
She said they have raised almost $2 million of the $2.4 million goal.
The increase from the original $2 million goal was due in part to cost increases and the addition of a sprinkler system, Schmitz said. A sprinkler system had to be added to the existing Arts Center building because it is connected to the addition, she said. Also adding to the project cost was the removal of an oil tank that was unexpectedly uncovered during utility work in front of the building, she said.
The 4,000-square-foot addition will help The Arts Center provide programming for more children and offer additional programming opportunities, Schmitz said.
The addition will include a classroom, culinary kitchen, two studios, office area, storage and restrooms. An existing classroom/kitchen in The Arts Center’s current building will also be renovated to serve just as a classroom.
The culinary kitchen is the result of a partnership between The Arts Center and James Valley Career and Technology Center that will provide classes for Jamestown Public Schools and JVCTC students. There will also be classes for the public and opportunities for the public to rent the kitchen to make foods from a commercially-licensed kitchen to sell, Schmitz said.
The Jamestown Public School Board approved a memorandum of understanding for the partnership in 2024.
“The culinary kitchen will be open in September but Jamestown Public Schools won’t be utilizing it until spring semester,” Schmitz said. “But we’re hoping to have regular cooking classes in there, maybe even a cooking club. We’re open to ideas because I really want to use that kitchen as much as possible.”
Hillerud Construction is the general contractor for the project. Electricians and plumbers have been working in the building and drywall is expected to go up this week, Schmitz said.
With large windows being placed in the addition, people are able to see some of the progress on the project from the outside of the building, Schmitz said.
“We do tours (of the new space) on Thursdays during the (Downtown) Arts Market,” she said. “It was busy last Thursday, there were a lot of people that went through.”
A green space behind the addition is expected to be a project for next summer, Schmitz said.
“We’re still planning for it. Right now, it’s going to be a minimal green space,” she said. “We’d like to develop it eventually …”
Also expected in the future will be work on two studio apartments directly above the new addition.
There are a number of naming opportunities available for the project including classrooms, courtyard, studios, floor tiles and more, Schmitz said.
She said support for the project has been strong.
“This community has been so supportive of this project and we just can’t thank them enough. The generosity really is overwhelming,” she said.
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