Work has started on the construction of the Jamestown Riverwalk Community Skatepark. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Additional funding to build the whole Jamestown Riverwalk Community Skatepark has been approved by the Jamestown Local Development Corp.

On Wednesday, the group approved a resolution to fund $480,000 to construct the whole park and for additional costs due to unexpected site work for soil remediation. The Jamestown City Council had already approved a similar resolution to use Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) funding for the skatepark last month.

Crystal Surdyk, city development director, said the original matching grant of $500,000, with $300,000 being provided by The Skate Park Project, in conjunction with the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, was only going to cover two-thirds of the costs for the park.

“This will give us the full park and the extra needed to take care of those extra environmental mitigation things that need to happen,” she said.

Funding for the skatepark also includes $10,000 from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation and $43,000 from the local fundraising program known as SK8 JTNY. Those interested in still donating funds to the skatepark project can do so by sending a check to the SK8 JTNY fund at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, 418 Spring St., Jamestown, NY 14701. For more information, visit crcfonline.org.

In other business:

¯ The board also approved using $500,000 of UDAG funding to create a new Fund For Downtown Programming. Surdyk said the city created a similar fund when it was awarded $10 million from the state through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative program. Of the $10 million, $600,000 was allocated for the Fund For Downtown Programming. The council also approved a resolution last month to create the new program.

Surdyk said none of the new $500,000 has been allocated yet. She said city officials will be able to be a “bit more flexible” about where events can happen with the new program.

“The hope is to use this to assist in putting together and hosting of events and try to kickstart the economy, and get people to come back downtown,” she said.

Surdyk said city officials are still working through the original Funding For Downtown Programming, with the remaining of the original funding having been committed to organizations and programs before the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the state has given city officials an extension through 2022 to use the rest of the funding.

¯ The board also approved providing Fund For Downtown Programming funds for Collaborative Children’s Solutions and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra events.

Surdyk said the Collaborative Children’s Solutions event will be happening this weekend, which will be an education program for children. She said the orchestra’s event will take place in 2022, with no date set yet. She added both of these programs had previously been approved by the board.