Bob Woodward is pictured in August with Greg Peterson of the Robert H. Jackson Center. Woodward was brought to Jamestown as part of funding from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

City of Jamestown officials are waiting for direction from the state on how to spend about $300,000 in Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding.

One of the programs associated with the $10 million in state funding allocated to Jamestown to revitalize its downtown was the Fund for Downtown Programming. Through 2019, about half of the $600,000 originally allocated to bring the “wow” factor to downtown events was spent.

Crystal Surdyk, city development director, said the Jamestown Local Development Corp. had allocated the rest of the funding to events before the coronavirus outbreak happened. Now, because of the state mandate against holding public gatherings, those scheduled events awarded funding will most likely not take place now.

“Things have changed dramatically,” Surdyk said. “Events and large gatherings are not going to be happening for sometime now, which puts us in a weird spot.”

Prior to the pandemic, the city had been instructed by state officials to allocate DRI funding by the end of the year. However, following the COVID-19 outbreak, it’s unknown if that will still be the case.

“We’re in limbo waiting for more direction after May 15,” Surdyk said.

Many of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s NY on PAUSE guidelines expire May 15. Surdyk said city officials are unsure about what direction they will be given by the state on whether the funding can be spent elsewhere.

“We don’t know from the state if we will be able to reprogram that money,” she said. “We won’t lose the money, but we will have to have some direction (from the state) on how to change the use given that the fund is specifically for events, and we can’t hold any events.”

Surdyk believes city officials will have to make a new proposal on how to spend the rest of the DRI funding. However, she said the state might also allow the city to hold on to the funding to wait for when public events can be allowed again, which might take a year or two.

“That is not a horrible solution. Our economy is going to need a shot in the arm,” she said.

Surdyk said, at this point, most of the $10 million DRI funding for projects in the city has been allocated. She said city officials are not worried about losing what hasn’t been allocated despite the obvious loss in revenues for the state following the pandemic.

“I don’t have any concern, at this time, that projects that are still waiting for reimbursement won’t be,” she said.

Last summer and fall, eight events were held in the city that received program funding, including the Gospel Explosion to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Emmanuel Baptist Church; Robert H. Jackson Center’s sponsorship of Bob Woodward speaking at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts; the band Guster playing at the Reg; funding for the second Whirlybird Music & Arts Festival; the inaugural Third Street Beer and Wine Festival; the first Best Day Ever Jamestown event; a second headliner for the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival; and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra to perform The Music of Queen: A Rock Symphony at The Reg.