ALYSSA BUMP
Chief Copy & Design Editor
The waves of economic development set to hit Dunkirk from the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Grant is expected to impact more than just the lakeside village.
SUNY Fredonia President Dr. Stephen H. Kolison Jr. said he is “very thrilled” for the City of Dunkirk’s major accomplishment. Kolison was among the attendees at New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s Economic Development announcement at the Clarion Hotel on Jan. 23.
“[The DRI project] will be very beneficial to SUNY Fredonia, as well as the village of Fredonia, even though the direct impact is in Dunkirk,” Kolison said.
One of the major components of the submitted DRI plan was the installation of a Jamestown Community College site in downtown Dunkirk. JCC plans to renovate the Graft building across from City Hall with the help of the City of Dunkirk and DRI funds.
One of The Leader’s staff members, Will Karr, spoke with Vincent DeJoy, Dunkirk’s Director of Planning and Development, back in October.
“We are working with Jamestown Community College on a building across the street to make this their North County Campus for both workforce development and their general education courses and certificates,” DeJoy said. “We’re really trying to change downtown Dunkirk to being a place where people live, work and go to school.”
JCC already has a location on Route 60 in Dunkirk. However, they want to open a new site downtown at a more central location. Dejoy believes that having a downtown site will make JCC’s services more accessible to people in the area.
Meanwhile, Kolison has been actively discussing potential collaborations with JCC President Daniel DeMarte.
“We’re looking at whether the students are interested in coming to SUNY Fredonia after they’re done with JCC,” Kolison said. “What are the things we can do to engage them in our campus community while they are still at JCC? … Can they participate in some of our activities on campus? … I’m not sure about all of these, but these are things that we’re looking at.”
Fredonia is the only four-year university in Chautauqua County, and Kolison regards Fredonia as “the leader” of higher education in this county.
“We do have the capacity to extend some of the things we do in different parts,” Kolison said.
Right now, Fredonia has a partnership with JCC to offer “the opportunity to earn both a two-year and four-year degree in select education and business programs without moving from one campus to the other,” according to Fredonia’s JCC+FRED: BOLD webpage.
Kolison explained the JCC+FRED: BOLD program “allows us to offer [some] classes on the campus of JCC in Jamestown. The intention is to help students who are unable to come to this campus to have access to what we provide.”
While future collaborations between JCC and Fredonia are still in the works, Kolison expressed his excitement to see the Dunkirk area develop as a whole to accommodate students’ needs.
“I’m always interested in places that our students can go to recreate,” Kolison said. “… I encourage all our students to explore everything as available in the area for them to use it, to enjoy themselves.”
Specifically, Kolison is excited for the new waterfront amenities and recreational opportunities.
“The waterpark — I think it’s gonna be fantastic. I like the improvement of the waterfront, even just to go on a Sunday afternoon, sit down and watch the boats come into the marina and things like that,” Kolison said. “Those are all beautiful things that our students and our faculty and our staff can actually take advantage of. So, I see a lot of benefit to us, as a campus community.”