UPDATE: Wine Cellar Patio Closed By Jamestown Renaissance Corporation

The Wine Cellar and adjacent patio on the Wintergarden Plaza (Google Maps)

An expired lease agreement has been cited as one of the reasons the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation has closed the patio operated by the Wine Cellar on the Wintergarden Plaza in downtown Jamestown,

The bar posted on social media that the closure was ordered by the Gebbie Foundation and the City of Jamestown.

Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund said that the owner of The Wine Cellar was notified in May about the patio closure by the JRC, which she co-chairs with Rev. Luke Fodor.

Fodor clarified that JRC, which owns the Wintergarden Plaza on North Main Street and Potter’s Terrace on East Third Street, will continue to own and maintain those properties. He said The Wine Cellar’s lease agreement for the patio with JRC expired and, as the JRC board has been going through the process of reimagining the organization, decided to end that agreement.

Fodor said the Wintergarden Plaza will continue to be open to the public for events and gatherings. The Wine Cellar had added the fenced in patio on the Wintergarden Plaza in 2012.

The JRC Board Co-Chairs had issued a statement in June that the board had decided that the City of Jamestown will lead neighborhood revitalization programs, while the Gebbie Foundation will continue its efforts on economic development initiatives in the City. The separation of those responsibilities seemed to indicate in June that the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation was shutting down, but based on conversations in recent days, the board is still meeting regularly and the organization may continue operations in some form in the future.

The JRC was formed in 2006 with support from the Gebbie Foundation. Its mission was to implement the city’s Urban Design Plan and it has also worked on neighborhood-based initiatives throughout the city.