Federal court building
MIDDLETOWN – Now that the Middletown Common Council authorized
the purchase of the federal court building in Middletown for $2.2 million,
Mayor Joseph DeStefano has the authorization to sign the contract to buy
the building.
DeStefano said the project will have widespread benefits to Middletown.
“We will be doing additional court space so we will have two courts located there,” the mayor said. “We will be doing some renovation of the city court for expanded police services and City Hall services.”
Right now, Middletown has only one courtroom at City Hall so the second
city judge must hold sessions in the common council chambers.
Once the courts are moved to the new location, some of the police facilities will be expanded into the City Hall space. At present, detectives’ offices are crammed into the basement.
Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther secured $2.7 million to buy the building that will be converted into space for city courts.
The total project will cost over $3.3 million, with $650,000 coming from the city.