Old Middletown Town Hall Will Be Demolished Sometime This Fall

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — As of late August, Middletown Police and many municipal offices have officially moved into their new home, the new Middletown Township building on Kings Highway.

A big reason why Middletown built the massive new $56-million town hall was to accommodate a new police headquarters. The old Middletown town hall, on Rt. 35, was constructed more than 60 years ago and is basically falling apart, the Township said a few years back before starting construction on the new building.

For example, the lower level of town hall flooded regularly in any large rainstorm; there were issues with air quality and mold and the old building even left Middletown vulnerable to potential lawsuits, as it could not accommodate wheelchairs. Also, the police locker room could not accommodate the increase in female offices on the Middletown police force.

The old Middletown town hall will actually be demolished sometime this fall, likely in September, but an exact date has not been determined, said Mayor Tony Perry.

A public tour of the new Township building will be given in November, but Middletown's police, municipal court and many Township offices are already operating out of the new building. Anyone is welcome inside to conduct Township business.

When the idea was first proposed to build a new Township building, Middletown administrator Tony Mercantante said at the time that simply renovating the existing town hall was not an option, because those changes alone would cost a minimum of $20 million, and would still only make the building minimally compliant with today's public building codes. Middletown also would have had to find temporary space to house the police department and municipal court for the next two to three years while renovations are done, and there is simply not space large enough in the area.

Middletown is also still moving forward on this plan to build new sidewalks along that part of Kings Highway, specifically the section where commuters walk to get to the train station, and to put in special historic street lamps in the vicinity of Town Hall, Middletown Village Elementary and the train station. More on this topic: Middletown Plans New Sidewalks, Special Lighting Along Kings Highway (July 2022)

Middletown Police have a designated parking lot on the side of the building. As always, the police lobby is open 24/7. The police department's regular business hours are 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For non-emergencies, call Middletown Police at 732-615-2100.