The concept between a combined Reg Lenna Center for the Arts and the National Comedy Center is interesting.

A merger of the organizations is far from a done deal. The boards of directors of both organizations have a lot of work to do before they can decide if a merger is the best thing for both organizations, but there are some ways merging the organizations into the umbrella of the National Comedy Center makes a lot of sense.

Both the Comedy Center and the Reg Lenna are drivers of traffic for downtown Jamestown situated at opposite ends of downtown. Having the venues working in concert with each other could help drive more traffic down on more nights and weekends throughout the year. Given that the National Comedy Center purposefully does not have performing space, having both organizations work together as Jamestown tries to position itself as a player in the comedy world is important for both organizations. And, any way to find partnerships to reduce the amount of money local foundations have to contribute to two similarly focused organizations makes sense.

Perhaps the most important thing for this process is open minds both among members of the task force that will discuss the organizations’ merger and of the community at large. Sticking to the status quo is easy. Having the long, difficult conversations that the NCC-Reg Lenna merger task force will begin having is difficult, but potentially worthwhile for the organizations involved and downtown as a whole.

There is much strength in the individual organizations. They could be even stronger working together. This discussion process will be interesting to watch.