New York state Sen. James Skoufis recently secured a $3 million capital grant for a long-awaited courthouse renovation project in the City of Middletown.
Once completed, the renovations will turn a long-vacated former federal courthouse on South Street into a centralized city court presided by two full-time judges.
“The city over the past years has undergone a renaissance,” Mr. Skoufis said at a press conference in Middletown on May 23. “This is just the latest brick in the wall here in rebuilding the city of Middletown, where we don’t want empty buildings.”
After the former federal courthouse closed in late 2014, Middletown soon purchased the property with a $2.7 million state grant secured by state Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, but subsequent funding challenges dragged out the effort to turn it into a city court.
With the incoming $3 million capital grant, Middletown now has to foot only half of the $6 million renovation bill, according to Mayor Joseph DeStefano.
In New York, local municipalities are tasked with furnishing up-to-standard court facilities.
“This is a win-win for us,” Mr. DeStefano said at the press conference, adding that a property adjacent to the courthouse that was purchased along with the state grant years ago could be developed for economic benefits.
“And we believe it is a win for the state also, as they will now be able to consolidate the operations into one place.”
The Middletown City Court has long outgrown its current space next to the police department and occasionally resorts to the common council chamber as a backup room.
The renovation project is planned to go out for bid in the summer, followed by construction that will likely take about 1 1/2 years, according to Mr. DeStefano.
When the new city court location is ready, the current court space will be upgraded for use by the Middletown Police Department, some of whose staff are currently working in the basement.
The grant secured by Mr. Skoufis comes from the State and Municipal (SAM) Facilities fund, which is authorized annually by the state and affords the legislators wide discretion in awarding local projects.
In the latest state budget adopted during spring, New York lawmakers allotted $1.9 billion for the SAM program to be administered by the state Dormitory Authority and financed by bonds.
Last year, Mr. Skoufis secured $2.5 million in SAM grant for a new parking garage in downtown Middletown, just across the street from the former federal courthouse building.
