New government center design calls for partial demolition

By Edie Johnson
GOSHEN — Legislators finally settled on a design for the county government center in Goshen that would demolish one of three buildings and add new construction.

It also eliminates more than half of the center's most distinctive — and some would say problematic — feature: its 87 rooftops.

County Executive Ed Diana, robust once again after his recent liver transplant, gave an impassioned speech supporting the more extensive, and costly, "B-B" project. He has often criticized the 1960s building — designed by American architect Paul Rudolph and considered a modern masterpiece by the world's most eminent architects and critics — for its multitudinous leaky rooftops.

"It eliminates 50 of 87 roofs," Diana said. "How could you not vote for that?....We had total rebuilding of the rooftops twice. And then we let them go, because we knew something else had to be done."

Chester Supervisor Steve Neuhaus, who will become county executive on Jan. 1, said: "You (legislators) make the choice. I'll build it."

Nearly 90 percent of the lawmakers present at the vote of the Physical Services Committee said they would support the decision, mindful of the urgency to get the center, shuttered since Hurricane Irene flooded the building more than two years ago, back in operation. The Village of Goshen suffered most after the center closed because of the precipitous drop-off in customers for local businesses that county workers had always supplied.

The committee was able to approve the design with a simple majority because the decision did not include bonding for the project, which will be decided in the spring. The B-B design is estimated to cost $67 million, $5 million more than the A-B design, which did not include demolition.

"The difference in price, when bonded, will be ten-thousandths of our budget for each of the next 20 years," said Legislator Dan Castricone of Tuxedo.

Members agreed to begin the environmental review immediately. The project's Type 1 designation requires a more-than-usual extensive review. Democratic caucus leader, Jeffrey Berkman, said a rigorous review was needed to protect the historic buildings surrounding the site.

The winning design goes to the full legislature for approval Dec. 12, as this paper goes to press.

Some object to demolition
Some legislators objected to the B-B design because of the partial demolition it calls for. The A-B option would renovate the third building but otherwise keep it the same. They said the choice of B-B goes against their decision in February to renovate the center instead of razing it and building anew.

A parsing argument followed.
"Whenever you do renovation, you do demolition," Legislator Dennis Simmons of Port Jervis said.

Matthew Turnbull of Hamptonburgh disagreed. "In this instance we are talking about demolition of a structure," he said. He added that a large-scale demolition was inconsistent with the intention of the original bond resolution.

The legislative attorney, Antoinette Reed, said legislators could choose a broad interpretation that included the demolition in the B-B option, modify the resolution to include the term "demolition," or cancel the original resolution and write a new one.

The debate continued. Some legislators asked why they were given only two options out of the ten possibilities floated earlier. Legislator Roseanne Sullivan of Wallkill complained that legislators were not involved enough in the process. Three other lawmakers said their constituents "want it done."

Diana agreed. "It's not a museum," he said. "It's not an art gallery. We can only use 64 percent of the building today. I am thrilled that now there will be some sort of building that will be efficient for the public."