Plaque for AIDS Memorial Park
AIDS Memorial Park in downtown Jamestown will be rededicated tonight as part of World AIDS Day.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in partnership with Jamestown Pride, PFLAG Chautauqua, and the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation will hold a service at St. Luke’s Undercroft at 5:30 p.m. before a procession to the park, located on East Third Street and Potter’s Alley. A short ceremony will then take place at the park.
AIDS Memorial Park, also known as Potter’s Terrace or the Wood Park, was created in the 1990s to memorialize those lost to the AIDS epidemic. The park, owned by the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation, closed in 2019 due to issues with the wood structure that used to cover an 8-foot hole beneath the park. That structure was removed and the hole filled in back in 2021. The park then reopened in November 2022.
Rev. Luke Fodor said the park’s historic plaque from 1998, which had been stolen, was just recently found and has been reinstalled at the park. Fodor, who is also co-chair of JRC, said, “This memorial honors those we lost, recognizes the ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS, and reaffirms our commitment to dignity, remembrance, and public health.”
World AIDS Day, observed annually on December 1, is a global day of remembrance and action—honoring the lives lost, supporting people living with HIV, and renewing efforts to end the epidemic.
For more information, visit stlukesjamestown.org
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