A window into comedy’s past and future New look helps unite two worlds in National Comedy Center building design By Brian Whalen
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he National Comedy Center, which opened in Jamestown, New York in 2018, is home to the country’s foremost archive of the history and art form of comedy. The groundbreaking museum is housed, in part, in a remark-
Built between 1930 and 1932, the station featured Hope’s custom steel windows as part of its chic Art Deco design. As a result, Hope’s Windows Inc., another Jamestown institution, was a natural choice to provide steel replacement windows for the historic building, as well as steel windows and doors for the new construction when the National Comedy Center redeveloped the site. Since then, Hope’s Windows has continued to support the National Comedy Center and its contributions to the wider Jamestown community.
Restoration and adaptive reuse of a local landmark
The building that now comprises part of the National Comedy Center was an Erie Railroad station on the New York City-to-Chicago passenger train route. At the height of passenger train travel, it was luxurious—built of marble, steel and glass. The station was taken out of commission in the 1970s and fell into disrepair, even as it was listed on the Federal Registry of Historic Places. Eventually, a local group secured funding for its rehabilitation, and the station was restored to its original 1930s condition in 2012. To help revive some of the historical aspects of the building, Hope’s Windows manufactured custom fixed, projected, side hung and single hung replacement steel
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windows for the project with custom hardware to match the existing historic hardware. The grand entrance to the old station lobby, which now houses a gift shop, features original steel doors, transoms and a distinctive glazed-in clock. This entrance was refurbished during the restoration. “Seeing the station restored to its former beautiful condition, with our original windows as part of that restoration, has been truly incredible,” says Matt Fuller, National Sales Manager at Hope’s Windows. When it came time to add its addition and building connector wing to the existing train station and Board of Public Utilities substation that would comprise the National Comedy Center, center officials wanted to retain the same look and quality as in the original building. “We ended up with a stunning mix of the old and new buildings,” says Tom Benson, Chairman of the National Comedy Center and a member of the team that worked to fund and execute the station restoration project. “The windows in the connector wing, identical to those in the station, help the whole campus to come together visually.” Both types of windows were installed in the new construction for the National Comedy Center to match the existing windows in the station’s front façade.
COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATION — ISSUE 3, 2021
Photo credit: Chautauqua 360 Photography
able historic building—the Jamestown Gateway Station.
