Orange County Government Center: Difference between revisions

The Orange County Government Center, located in Goshen, New York, is as its name suggests the main office of the government of Orange County. It houses most county officials' offices of the county and meetings of the county legislature. The records of Orange County Court and all deeds and mortgages filed in the county are kept there as well. An office of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles is located on the first floor.

A courtyard divides the portion of the building hosting the executive and legislative branches from the half that hosted County Court until the late 1990s, when the state's Court Facilities Capital Review Board deemed it unfit for use. A new addition was built to its north to house the courts and opened in the early 2000s, at considerable cost and frequent delay.

Designed by noted architect and dean of the Yale School of Architecture Paul Rudolph in 1963 and built in 1967, the building's brutalist style has been the source of many complaints since then.

As is commonly the case with brutalist structures, its stark and jarring contrast to the quaint and historic buildings that predominate in the village (although it is somewhat set apart from downtown Goshen by a large parking lot) has been denounced for years.

Aesthetics, however, aren't the only problem with the building. As the courts' experience suggests, the building has not held up well in the long term.

Many of its roofs leak, and it has also become expensive to heat over the years (energy costs were not an issue when it was designed). The interior atrium, which houses the DMV office, relies mostly on ambient light from a large window onto the courtyard, leaving it dim.

So great are these problems, and so widespread the disdain for the building in the county, that when current county executive Edward Diana considered demolishing it to build a new one in early 2004 the objections raised were purely financial. However, the costs of doing so are prohibitive enough that the idea has been dropped. At the same time it is uncertain whether it would be feasible to repair the building.

There have been some architects who have urged the building's preservation, however, pointing to its historic value, Rudolph's stature as an architect, and the imaginative use of space within the building.

Some rooms are indeed worth seeing. The legislature's chambers feature dramatic lighting and terracing which give its proceedings a sense of importance. Also, the court records room on the south side — bright, open and airy and one of the few well-lit spaces inside — is a favorable contrast to its counterparts in neighboring counties.