Making A Neighborhood Difference
Renaissance Corp’s Fall Tour Showcases Work On 30 Jamestown Properties
Pictured is a home at 64 West Virginia Blvd. before work began as part of the Jamestown Renaissance Corp.’s Renaissance Block Challenge.
Pictured is a home at 64 West Virginia Blvd. during work as part of the Jamestown Renaissance Corp.’s Renaissance Block Challenge.
Pictured is a home at 64 West Virginia Blvd. after work began as part of the Jamestown Renaissance Corp.’s Renaissance Block Challenge.
Pictured is a home at 64 West Virginia Blvd. before work began as part of the Jamestown Renaissance Corp.’s Renaissance Block Challenge.
Pictured is a home at 64 West Virginia Blvd. during work as part of the Jamestown Renaissance Corp.’s Renaissance Block Challenge.
Pictured is a home at 64 West Virginia Blvd. after work began as part of the Jamestown Renaissance Corp.’s Renaissance Block Challenge.
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The Jamestown Renaissance Corporation recently conducted its fall walking tour, highlighting part of the 2020 Renaissance Block Challenge neighborhood improvement projects.
Twenty-nine Renaissance Block Challenge properties and one Paint Jamestown project were featured along the route. The walk started at the north end of Linwood Avenue, near Newland Avenue, and included parts of Barker Street, West Virginia Boulevard and Douglas Place before wrapping around to Mahon Place and ending on the northern end of West Virginia Boulevard.
Joining the tour were several Jamestown Renaissance Corporation board members, representatives from the Lenna, Sheldon and Chautauqua Region Community foundations, members of the Jamestown Department of Development and neighborhood residents. The invitation list was much smaller this year compared to previous years due to the COVID pandemic and safety concerns.
The Renaissance Block Challenge program provides neighbors who form groups, called a neighborhood clusters, financial incentive for curb appeal beautification projects on their properties. Since 2011, when the program started, more than 550 Jamestown properties have benefited from this program. The Paint Jamestown program provides funding for the painting of properties in this selected area if a color scheme is chosen from a booklet displaying 50 choices and up to three colors are used.
In 2019, the 257 properties located in the area between UPMC Hospital on Foote and Martin Road, and from Allen Park to Linwood, had the opportunity to participate in this program. Fifty-six properties in four neighborhood clusters signed up. An additional 35 properties came on board in 2020. Eighty - three of those properties remain in the program which is 33% of the target area properties.
"We have decided to remain in this selected area another year. Hopefully, more clusters will form and participate in this Jamestown beautification project," says Mary Maxwell, Jamestown Renaissance Corp. Neighborhood Project administrator. "We are particular interested in adding properties to the already established clusters and in forming new clusters. It would be nice to see some interest develop for this program on Beech and Maple."
A minimum of five neighbors must come together to form a cluster.
Several property owners, both landlords and owner occupied property owners, were available to speak to the touring group about their RBC experiences this year. The virus has caused a reduction in completed projects. It has been difficult to secure contractors and when one is hired, materials have been hard to come by.
"The COVID pandemic has made it extremely hard to locate materials for the work that needs to be done on my rental properties. I have concentrated on the emergency needs of my tenants and now am able to work on the improvement projects." said Mike Brezner, 18 Linwood property owner and landlord.
"We got lots of improvements done on our property through this program," said Dean and Cindy Golem of 51 Linwood Ave.
"We are so thankful for the RBC program," added the Golem's neighbors, Jodie and Bob Sisley of 20 Barker St. "The RBC program has created better communication among our neighbors."
For more information about the Renaissance Block Challenge and the Paint Jamestown programs, call Maxwell at 708-6964 or email mary@jamestownrenaissance.org.