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It wasn't the snip of a ribbon that opened the National Comedy Center five years ago.
It was the roar of Dan Aykroyd's motorcycle, ridden by the famous Saturday Night Live cast member down West Second Street, that officially announced the National Comedy Center as a major player in the comedy world.
As our Michael Zabrodsky recounts on Page 1 of today's edition, it's been a busy five years for the National Comedy Center. Countless artifacts from luminaries that include Johnny Carson, Joan Rivers, Rodney Dangerfield, Betty White, Carl Reiner and George Carlin have been either donated or are on loan. The center has been named a top attraction by national publications. Major touring comedians -- including this year's Comedy Festival headliners Gabriel Iglesias and Taylor Tomlinson -- make Jamestown a regular stop on their touring schedules each summer. Luminaries like Jimmy Fallon appear in special productions inside the center.
By all accounts the center is a hit in the comedy world.
But if we view the first five years of the National Comedy Center as an opening act, what can we envision as the headline act as the center moves into its next phase?
Boosting year-round visitors to the center would be a good place to start. In 2019, center officials said the attraction had drawn 66,044 visitors since the center's August 2018 opening. A look at IRS Form 990 revenue numbers showed $91,628 in revenue from admissions and tours to the National Comedy Center in 2018 in its five months of operation that years followed by admission and tour revenue of $212,573 in in 2019, $77,479 in 2020, and $208,113 in 2021. While visitor-related revenue is approaching 2019 levels, we know those levels are roughly half of what was envisioned during planning for the center.
And, if the National Comedy Center is able to boost visitors, how does the city capitalize on those additional people?
The Comedy Center is a marvel, but the rest of downtown looks like it did before the center opened with a bit more pedestrian traffic. New development has been hard to come by in the past couple of years -- though perhaps more people downtown visiting the center could spur some new reuse of existing buildings. That was part of the planning process for the National Comedy Center but, with the pandemic and the anticipated ramp-up to meet original visitor projections, that sort of ancillary development hasn't taken place yet.
As we said, the National Comedy Center is a hit. It can be a bigger hit. We're optimistic to see what the next five years bring for the center and the area around it.