The site preparedness work for the long-awaited construction of a new state forensic psychiatric facility on Route 17M started in April.
OCS Industries, a Middletown-based contractor that presented the lowest bid for the job at just under $6 million and was hired by the state last month, confirmed the news with The Epoch Times.
The project kickoff holds significance for two nearby municipalities: the city of Middletown, which agreed to provide water and sewer services to the new facility in return for revenue, and the town of Goshen, which is looking at buying the soon-to-be-retired wastewater plant at the site to aid commercial growth along the 17M corridor.
Site preparedness is expected to be completed by the end of the year, followed by four years of construction work, which is estimated to conclude by the end of 2028, according to a spokesperson with the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.
Total costs are estimated at more than $300 million and financed by bonds.
The new 300-bed complex will be built on vacant lots adjacent to the existing 100-year-old facility, which will be decommissioned and made available for other uses.
Meanwhile, the state plans to retire the existing water and wastewater treatment plants and hook the new facility up with municipal infrastructure in Middletown.
“The Office of Mental Health is in the business of providing behavioral health care, and operating sewage treatment plants and wastewater treatment facilities is not within [our] core mission,” a state official said during an earlier project presentation to Middletown officials.
The new facility needs a daily average of 36,000 gallons of water.
At a cost of $12 million, sewer and water lines serving the new complex will be built next year and run northward for 3.5 miles along Route 17M.
Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano told The Epoch Times that the new facility could catalyze further growth along Route 17M, which would benefit the city of Middletown and the towns of Wawayanda and Goshen.
New York had planned to close Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center for good in the early 2010s as part of a statewide cost-saving consolidation plan but later opted to ditch the idea.
The center employs about 550 workers, with most patients being admitted following court orders of “incompetent to stand trial” or “not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.”
