Siding is moved to an upper floor Friday morning as construction continues at the Chautauqua Center’s new Dunkirk facility on Third Street. The building is set to open in mid-March. Photo by M.J. Stafford

The Chautauqua Center’s new building, currently under construction on Third Street in Dunkirk, will more than quadruple its medical space in the city.

The facility should open in mid-March, Chautauqua Center CEO Michael Pease said in a recent interview.

“It’s backed up a little,” he acknowledged, blaming the supply and labor issues common across all industries lately. However, “we’re still happy. We’re not talking about too far out.”

Pease said the Jamestown-based medical provider is attempting to meet soaring demand with the construction of the building.

“We don’t have enough space right now to meet demand,” he said, speaking of the Chautauqua Center’s two current clinics on Central Avenue. After meeting with various planning consultants, the company determined “we needed to do something new, in new space,” he said.

The two clinics currently provide 6,000 square feet of space, and the new building will have about 25,000 square feet, he added.

The new building “allows us to have rooms where we can do procedures we couldn’t have before,” Pease said. In addition, since it is custom-built as opposed to the current renting arrangements, “it allows us to build in a way that helps us get more efficient,” with an eye on cutting more costs and seeing more patients.

“We want to help meet the community’s need,” he said. “Folks are having a hard time getting into places to get their needs taken care of.”

“It will bring health care services that are desperately needed in the community,” Dunkirk Mayor Wilfred Rosas said.

Rosas said the city Planning and Development Department worked with the Chautauqua Center to find a site for their new building. “They’ve been a treat to work with, very professional,” he said of the center.

The site chosen, at the corner of Third Street and Park Avenue, used to house a pavilion and parking for the adjacent shopping plaza. The city-owned pavilion was reportedly well-used in the 1960s through 1980s for bands and other community entertainment, but eventually fell out of favor and started to crumble. The badly-lit site became a haven for drug deals and other questionable behavior.

It’s now home to plenty of activity. General contractor Kirst Construction of Buffalo, ownership representatives Colby Development and architect-engineers Carmina Wood Morris all have a presence on the site. Pease said they are using numerous sub-contractors, as well. “We’re trying to keep as much money going into local contractors’ pockets as possible,” he said.

As part of the construction process, National Grid has put in new equipment to provide the building with the power it will need, Rosas said.

Though the project was originally expected to cost $5 million, Pease said that estimate came before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the issues it has caused. Since then, “prices have soared,” and it is now expected to cost between $7 and $7.5 million, he said.

The Chautauqua Center already provides primary care, oral/dental health services, substance abuse treatment, family planning, and psychiatry and other behavioral health assistance, among other things. Pease said that with the influx of of new space, it is hoping to add eye care and psychology services, as well.

In conclusion, Pease wanted to debunk something about the center.

“We’re open to everyone,” he said. “There’s a common misconception that we only take care of low-income folks. That’s just not the case. We’ll take anyone. We accept every patient.”