The tight timeline was among a handful of stadium-related topics brought before the Jamestown City Council by college officials.

JCC is asking Jamestown to transfer the city-owned Diethrick Park in order to apply for millions of dollars in capital funding. In order to get its request in for next year’s state budget, where funding would be included, the college needs support from the city that the stadium would be transferred and that Chautauqua County would be willing to bond for a portion of the costs by Dec. 8.

Dr. Daniel DeMarte, JCC president, stressed the need to attract and retain students, and noted that talks on renovating the stadium have been ongoing with the city for more than three years.

“If we do not upgrade our athletic facilities … we’re at risk of losing the current students we attract to the college. Right now, that’s about 160 athletes each year,” DeMarte told City Council members Monday night. “We attract enough athletes that come to JCC that, in effect, we fill one of three residence halls. So, if we did not have the athletics, I don’t have the confidence that we would fill all three of those halls, which would lead to another conversation.”

Dr. Daniel DeMarte, JCC president, is pictured during Monday’s City Council meeting.

At an estimated cost of more than $30 million, JCC is looking at turning Diethrick Park into a multi-use stadium utilizing turf. Half of the funding, DeMarte said, would come from SUNY’s capital program for community colleges while the balance would be split between Chautauqua County and JCC.

DeMarte touted the benefits of upgrading the Falconer Street stadium, which dates back to the 1940s.

“One of the things that we bring to this conversation, if we were to move it forward, is the funding to renovate the stadium and make it that destination, not just for our students, but for the city of Jamestown, the county and the region,” he said. “This is more of a destination project than a project just for the college.”

On the current timeline, which requires city and county support, JCC estimates the facility would be ready for use in fall 2025 or early 2026.

Maria Kindberg, JCC Foundation executive director, said an upgraded Diethrick Park would help the college promote its sports programs. She said the “vast majority” of high schools have better athletic facilities than JCC.

“So, we are trying to attract student-athletes to the college, and they are coming to us from high schools where they are playing on turf,” Kindberg said Monday. “They are used to turf. They come and look at our soccer field and it just doesn’t stack up.”

She added, “When it comes to student recruitment, it is a huge factor that we don’t have the athletic facilities at a collegiate level.”

JCC has received another proposal that would upgrade Diethrick Park as a baseball-only facility with turf. The plan also calls for establishing a multi-use field for soccer and softball next to the current stadium in addition to installing turf on the current soccer field.

The second proposal, from CPL, has a price tag of $27 million.

“That would certainly allow us to attract more to the area,” Kindberg said of the options.

STADIUM TRANSFER

Kindberg said the transfer of the stadium from the city to JCC would allow the college to apply for critical SUNY funding. “When you’re talking about a project of this magnitude, 50% is a lot of money,” she said.

City Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, asked why JCC wanted the city to give up the stadium, which is considered parkland, before funding was obtained.

Kindberg said the college is trying to coordinate multiple timelines at once, that being the county, city, SUNY, state and JCC itself.

“We are hoping that the city would be willing to transfer ownership if and when funding is lined up,” she said.

Regarding a potential path forward for a transfer Steve Abdella, former county attorney and legal counsel for JCC, said the city could issue a statement of intent followed by an agreement with conditions. He also confirmed that state legislation would be required for the property transfer to be authorized.

“I think there’s a lot of promise and potential excitement,” he said. “I certainly know there’s a lot of questions and interest to address.”

Councilwoman Marie Carrubba, D-Ward IV, inquired whether the city would be required to replace the parkland if the transfer were to move forward.

“I think that’s highly unlikely given the nature of the transaction,” Abdella responded, “and, frankly, that’s up to the state Legislature. The key would be the city and the county and the college getting behind the project, which would clearly result in increased use of this land for parks and recreational purposes, not less. Much more.”