Kleiner Center Improvements in Middletown Secure $6.6 Million in NY State Funding

MIDDLETOWN—At a press conference on Sept. 4, City of Middletown officials got some welcome news from the New York State Assembly and later, even more good news from the State Senate.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, as part of his annual statewide tour in Orange County, with Assemblymember Paula Elaine Kay announced at the press conference a total of $3.3 million in state funding to revitalize the Kleiner Center located adjacent to the e campus of Fei Tian College (soon to be operating as Northern University). The funding will revitalize the property and transform it into a destination for the arts and community programming as an intergenerational, multipurpose center.

“Our communities need and deserve places where they can come together and connect with each other across generations,” Speaker Heastie said. “This funding will allow Middletown to renovate and revitalize the Kleiner Center and make it a destination for families here in Orange County.” 

“This project is so important to our community here in Middletown,” Assemblymember Kay said. “This funding will give families of all ages a place to meet and develop stronger connections. Thank you to Speaker Heastie for joining us today for this important announcement and understanding the significance of the Kleiner Center for the future of the City of Middletown.”

At the press conference, State Senator James Skoufis announced that the State Senate was going to match the Assembly’s funding for the project, bringing the total aid package to $6.6 million. He credited State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for being instrumental in helping secure the State Senate’s share of the funding for the Kleiner Center project.

The Kleiner Center was built in 1968 as a recreation center for the Middletown State Psychiatric Center. Since its closure in 2006, the building has been left to deteriorate. This funding will help turn the center into a modern facility for community programming and engagement, including a theater and auditorium, a gymnasium, studios and conference rooms. The goal is to provide the community with intergenerational programming to connect young people, adults and seniors through shared cultural experiences.

Senator Skoufis told Mid Hudson News, “This building has sat here, mothballed, collecting dust, with squatters and fires in vacant buildings around this campus and we’re going to turn it into a state-of-the art cultural, arts, tourist magnet and a classroom space, studio space for the college, community space for the city of Middletown and surrounding area. This is going to be a majestic building at the end of this project, and that is real economic development that taxpayers can support.”