On Monday, the Jamestown City Council approved using an additional $480,000 in Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) funding to pay for the second phase of the skate park and for additional cost due to unexpected site work for soil remediation.

In December 2019, the council had previously approved the use of $150,000 in UDAG funds toward the $250,000 needed from the local community to match the $250,000 grant provided by the former Tony Hawk Foundation, which is now known as The Skate Park Project.

“It only makes sense to build the whole skate park instead of just two-thirds of it,” said Crystal Surdyk, city development director.

Surdyk said city officials are still planning to have the park constructed by the end of the summer. She said with the new plan to build the whole park this year, Grindline — the company hired to design the skate park — needs two additional weeks to incorporate the second phase.

A conceptual drawing of what the future Jamestown Riverwalk Skate Park might look like.

“We still anticipate to have construction done by the end of summer,” she said. “I would anticipate breaking ground by Aug. 1.”

In other business:

¯ The council also approved using $500,000 from the UDAG funding to continue the Fund for Downtown Programming. The Fund for Downtown Programming was created after the city was awarded $10 million by the state for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Of the $10 million, $600,000 was allocated for the Fund for Downtown Programming. After initially funding several events downtown during 2019, city officials were set to allocate the remainder of the $600,000 toward summer events last year. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no events were held downtown last year.

Surdyk said even though no events were held downtown in 2020, city officials allocated funding before the pandemic for downtown events. She said city officials are now working with people to resubmit applications to still obtain the funding they were supposed to receive last year.

With additional funding now being allocated toward the Fund for Downtown Program, Surdyk said this will play an important role in bringing events back to the city of Jamestown.

“It seems like a great way to be able to have an immediate impact and mitigate economic hardship businesses have been facing,” she said. “We need to take some kind of immediate action and give the community a shot in the arm.”

Surdyk said once the JLDC approves the funding allocation people will start to be able to apply for a portion of the additional $500,000 in funding.

“The goal is to get the program reopened so businesses, venues and attractions can submit applications as quickly as they can to use the funding as soon as possible,” she said.

¯ The council also approved the 2021 Community Development Block Grant and HOME program activities. The funding for CDBG programs totals $1,196,181. The funding will go toward lead poisoning prevention; Americans With Disabilities Act improvements to public facilities; neighborhood target area infrastructure improvements; and environmental assessment and remediation. The funding for HOME program activities is $338,905, which will be used for owner-occupied rehabilitation.