Orange County Government Center

The Orange County Government Center, located on Main Street in Goshen, New York, was the main office of the government of Orange County. It housed most county officials' offices and meetings of the county legislature. The records of Orange County Court and all deeds and mortgages filed in the county were kept there as well. An office of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles was located on the first floor., the center section of the building has been demolished, over objections by architectural preservationists.History and contested demolitionThe building was designed by noted architect and dean of the Yale School of Architecture Paul Rudolph in 1963 and built in 1967. A courtyard divided 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 the old courthouse 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.Its architecture has been subject to some criticism. At the time of its construction it was called a "monstrosity". "If I took a poll in town, it would be demolished tomorrow," Former County Executive Edward A. Diana said in 2010. That year he proposed a replacement building, but the county legislature balked at the $114 million cost during difficult economic times.