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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, November 4, 2015
City gets $25K to restore 1842 courthouse
In Brief
City seeks a Christmas tree
The search for the perfect Christmas tree has
begun! The City of Newburgh has started to get calls
from residents and some from outside city limits
offering to donate their trees to decorate our beautiful Lower Broadway. Deputy Mayor Regina Angelo
is excited about this time of year and its meaning.
With its hundreds of lights and decorations
placed by the Department of Public Works, the tree
is a Newburgh holiday tradition.
“The holiday spirit is starting to build and
there’s nothing better to culminate that feeling but
to have a beautiful tree right before Thanksgiving,”
said Deputy Mayor Angelo. The Deputy Mayor’s
vision is to have a 35-foot-high blue spruce.
If you have that perfect tree, and would like to
donate it to brighten Christmas on Broadway, please
leave a message for Deputy Mayor Regina Angelo at
DPW, 565-3297 or call Lillian Burgarelli at City Hall
at 569-7354.
November sanitation schedule
Photo provided
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus presents City of Newburgh officials with a $25,000 check to restore the 1842 County
Courthouse on Grand Street.
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
Orange County handed the City of Newburgh a $25,000
check to help bolster revitalization and restore the 1842
County Courthouse on Grand Street.
“The City of Newburgh is an important part of our
county,” Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus stated
last week, when he presented city officials with an oversized check in front of the historic courthouse.
“This funding demonstrates the county’s commitment
to helping assist our cities in their rejuvenation efforts.”
The city-owned courthouse, located at 123 Grand St.,
was built in 1842 and designed in the Greek-Revival style
by architect Thornton Niven.
“In 1840, the courthouse in Goshen was old, pre-revolutionary, inadequate and inhospitable,” said City of
Newburgh Historian Mary McTamaney. “They decided
to build a new one.”
In fact, the county built two, new courthouses; one in
Goshen and one in Newburgh, to serve the many residents who lived in the eastern area of the county. “They
wanted to avoid the long horse ride out to Goshen to get
to proceedings,” said the historian. “It was always the
county’s eastern seat.”
The courthouse was closed in 1972 after the county
consolidated all court activities in Goshen, she said. The
building sat vacant for a number of years in the 90s. “It
was gutted and rebuilt as you see it today,” McTamaney
said.
The landmark building now serves as the Newburgh
Heritage Center. McTamaney is the center’s director.
The restoration funding comes by way of monies set
aside in the county budget for infrastructure and community development. A total of $105,000 was earmarked
for these initiatives in the 2016 county budget, county
spokesman Justin Rodriguez said Monday.
Orange County Legislator Curlie Dillard thanked the
county for the financial assistance in a press release last
week.
“Newburgh is a growing city and we need this type of
cooperation from the county, state and federal governments to keep the momentum going,” Dillard said.
Library hosts book sale
Just in time for the holiday season, the Friends of
the Newburgh Free Library will hold their annual Fall
Book Sale at the Main Library on Saturday, Nov. 14 from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Admi