After years of twists and turns, the deteriorated Ontario and Western (O&W) train station on Wickham Avenue in the City of Middletown is getting closer to a new life.
With funding and a new tenant in place, the city is set to break ground next spring and finish refurbishing the building early 2026, according to Mayor Joseph DeStefano.
Total construction costs are estimated at between $24 million and $28 million.
“We would like to restore the building to what it was,” DeStefano said in front of the historic station on Oct. 24. “It is an iconic structure. You don’t build buildings like this anymore.”
Designed in the late 1800s by Bradford Gilbert, a renowned railway building architect, the station was a major stop on the 540-mile O&W railway connecting New York Harbor and the eastern end of Lake Ontario and contributed to the growth of Middletown.
Aside from transporting milk and coal, the O&W railway was also a tourist carrier bringing New York City residents to and from resorts in the Catskills mountains.
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After the railroad company folded in 1957 under financial hardship, the Middletown station was occupied by several local businesses before being damaged by fire in 2004.
“It has been vacant for many years and has been an eyesore and a symbol of urban decay,” DeStefano said, “It is a key part of the revitalization of our city and our community as a whole.”
The Regional Economic Community Action Program, also known as RECAP, has signed on as a tenant to move its Head Start program into the soon-to-be-restored building.
Head Start is RECAP’s early childhood development program that enrolls 3- to 5-year-old children from qualified low-income families. The program served about 180 children at three locations in Middletown, Port Jervis, and Scotchtown, according to its latest annual report.
Last year, 65 families remained on the program’s waiting list, according to RECAP chief executive director Charles Quinn at the press conference.
“This area of Middletown that we are in right now is considered a childcare desert, and there are just not enough slots for the children in the community,” Quinn said.
According to Quinn, the future train station site will help expand the program’s Middletown capacity to 226 slots, broaden the served age groups to include newborns and toddlers, enlarge the pool of qualified families, and result in 34 new jobs.
(L to R) RECAP CEO Charles Quinn, Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano, and state Senator James Skoufis announced new plans for the O&W train station in Middletown, N.Y., on Oct. 24, 2024. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times
“As we partner with Mayor DeStefano and his team to realize a shared vision of restoring the O&W building, it represents more than just a preservation of history,” Quinn said.
“It is a march into the future—the future of our children and our commitment to the families who depend upon quality education.”
According to DeStefano, funding sources for the reconstruction include capital assistance from the New York state Dormitory Authority, a community development grant from the state Office of Community Renewal, a Restore New York grant from the Empire State Development, and the COVID-19 stimulus money from the federal government.
The City of Middletown has issued bonds in the amount of $6 million for the reconstruction project, on top of a $1 million initial commitment.
DeStefano said that state Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther was instrumental in securing grants in the past and that state Sen. James Skoufis, who started representing Middletown about two years ago, also helped with funding extensions and identifying new sources.
“This is the entryway to the downtown corridor,” Skoufis said of the train station. “Not only are we restoring a blight at the entry of this great city but also the tenant that’s going to be in this building, the children and the families that are going to be touched and affected ... There is nothing better than that.”
Over the past decades, the city made a series of attempts to redevelop the property without success. In 2018, after several back-and-forth ownership changes, Middletown bought the station back from a local health care provider and started from square one again.
“I want to thank all the city employees involved in this from day one, some of us going back 20 years,” DeStefano said, “It took a lot of work, commitment, and dedication to bring this about.”
“I am probably one of only a couple of council members who actually remember the O&W as a train station. It brought many people to our fine city,” councilman Joe Masi, who represents the city’s first ward that contains the historic structure, told The Epoch Times.
“When completed, it will make that part of Middletown vibrant and welcome visitors to our great city. I am proud to be a small part of the transition.”
“For years, Alderman Joe Masi and I have been told by our people the building is an eyesore, but because it is such a part of Middletown history, they want to save it,” Kevin Witt, the other councilman representing the first ward, said in an email to the publication.
“Our mayor, who grew up in the first ward, spearheaded this renovation plan and secured financial assistance from Senator Skoufis and Assemblywoman Gunther, which we appreciate.”
The station is the ninth property in Middletown to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the Historical Society of Middletown and the Wallkill Precinct.
