The window for SUNY Jamestown Community College to get its capital funding request in to New York state as part of its proposed multi-million renovation of Russell E. Diethrick Park is “closing fast.”

That was the brief, yet blunt, message JCC President Daniel DeMarte provided to college trustees during their most recent meeting.

DeMarte said there are multiple timelines involved in the project, which calls for the city-owned stadium to be transferred to the college before a mass overhaul takes place.

JCC is hoping the county will fund a quarter of the $30 million project, with other aid coming from the college itself and through the State University of New York’s Community College Capital Program.

DeMarte said the timeline that has driven JCC’s efforts up to this point is the 2024 county budget. Lawmakers last week approved the county’s $294.1 million spending plan, though no funds have yet to be directly earmarked for the stadium renovation.

JCC’s president said county backing will be needed for the college to submit its application to SUNY by late November or early December.

Capital funding is part of the New York state budget; if successful, aid would be announced in the April 2024 list of projects in the executive budget.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen here,” DeMarte told college trustees last week. “We’re sort of caught in a chicken and egg. The county wants to support it, but they need to know the city (of Jamestown) will entertain a transfer of the property. We don’t have an answer to that. So that’s the limbo we’re in.”

DeMarte said if the college misses the early December deadline to submit its capital request, “We will likely be delayed until this time next year moving the stadium project forward.”

During a county Planning Board meeting in August, he gave a PowerPoint presentation on the project, which would turn Diethrick Park into a three-in-one turf field for soccer, baseball and softball.

Other improvements include changes to the office; the remodeling of the locker and training rooms; the installation of a cover on the batting cages; the addition of portable bleachers; and improvements to the concession stands.

Should the renovation take place, the park would be available for rent by various organizations.

JCC would like to break ground in 2025 and be finished by the end of 2026.

DeMarte provided an update on the stadium during last week’s trustees meeting.

“The window to meet this next budget cycle is closing fast,” he said. “The politics in the election have slowed down the conversation — you could say that’s to be expected. But it could have slowed it down so much that we might not see anything until next year. We don’t know that yet, but I’m at the point where I’m short on patience with the amount of time and energy we’ve put into this project only to get delayed because of an election coming up when it’s been out there for three years.”

He is planning to meet with some members of the Jamestown City Council later in November.