MIDDLETOWN – The City of Middletown, which is under state order
to provide adequate facilities for its courts and has a police department
bursting at the seams next to City Hall, is going to purchase the former
Federal Courthouse building at 25 South Street.
State Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther announced Thursday that she has secured
$2.7 million to purchase and renovate the building, which is only a few
years old and was abandoned by the feds last year.
The project will address “some critical needs in the city, including
overcrowding of the court and police station,” said Mayor Joseph
DeStefano.
The funding will come from the state’s 2015-16 budget.
“This building is well-suited for badly-needed city court space,
for additional space for the police department, and to continue to foster
the economic development of the city,” said Gunther.
The building will cost $2.2 million to acquire with another $500,000 from
the state and $650,000 from the city to renovate the building and convert
the City Hall courts into police department space. Chief Ramon Bethencourt
noted at present, the detective division is in the basement of City Hall
and there is no additional room for female personnel lockers. Expanded
into court space will greatly enhance the department’s operations,
he said.
