Former Psychiatric Center Building Gets New Life In Middletown

A former psychiatric campus building in Middletown is getting a new lease on life, with plans for preschool classrooms, special education programs and childcare.

Former Middletown Psych Center Campus/Google Earth

Talk about a change of scenery. A building on the grounds of a former psychiatric center in Orange County could soon be filled with preschoolers instead of the ghosts of its past.

The City of Middletown is moving forward with plans to transform the long-vacant Kleiner Building into a modern educational facility, including Universal Pre-K classrooms, a regional special education center and a new childcare center.

The project recently received another $3.3 million in state funding, bringing New York's total investment to $10 million, according to the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD).

Commissioner Willow Baer announced the latest funding on behalf of Governor Kathy Hochul, alongside Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano, State Senator James Skoufis and Assemblymember Paula Elaine Kay.

The building is part of the former Middletown Psychiatric Center campus, which closed in 2006. The Kleiner Building has sat vacant and deteriorating for years, with broken windows and a long list of needed repairs.

Now, its next chapter could involve story time, finger painting and the occasional preschooler refusing to take a nap.

From Psychiatric Campus to Preschool Classrooms

The transformation is part of a broader effort to bring new life to the former psychiatric campus and create educational opportunities for local families.

The approximately 80,000-square-foot Kleiner Building is expected to serve the Middletown City School District and Orange-Ulster BOCES. The plans include Universal Pre-K classrooms, specialized educational programs for students with disabilities and childcare services.

The project was initially envisioned as a community center, but plans have since shifted toward an educational facility to address local needs.

And while the building's history might make the preschool plans sound like the setup for a particularly dark sitcom, the goal is a serious one: turn a deteriorating property into a useful space for children, students with disabilities and families throughout the region.

A $10 Million Investment, With More Funding Needed

New York State has committed $10 million to the Kleiner Building project. The latest $3.3 million award was announced in October 2026.

However, that money won't cover the entire redevelopment. Recent reporting puts the estimated cost at approximately $65 million to $70 million, meaning substantial additional funding will be needed before the project can be completed.

The city acquired a 33-acre portion of the former state campus from New York in 2024 for $1, beginning a new phase in efforts to redevelop the long-neglected property.

The Kleiner Building is one part of a larger campus that officials hope to turn into a destination for education, arts and community activity.

A New Chapter for a Piece of Middletown History

The former Middletown Psychiatric Center opened in 1874 and operated for more than 130 years before closing in April 2006. The sprawling campus once included more than 100 buildings across hundreds of acres.

The Kleiner Building itself was constructed in 1968 as a recreation center for the psychiatric campus. Previous redevelopment plans called for community programming, including arts and athletics, before the project shifted toward educational use.

Now, officials are working to give the building a purpose that meets the needs of today's Middletown families.

There is still a long road ahead before the former campus building welcomes its first class of students. But if the plans move forward, a property that has spent years sitting empty could eventually become a place for learning, childcare and new opportunities.

And somewhere in Middletown, a future preschool teacher may soon be preparing to explain for the 47th time why we don't eat the crayons.

Explore the Abandoned Middle School at Albany's Kenwood Convent

This abandoned property is part of the Kenwood Convent complex in Albany. If it's the same story as the rest of the property, it's been vacant since 2009. There have been some ownership changes and it appears there is still power in parts of the building. As with the convent, it also looks like work was being done by construction crews to clean out and/or restore the building, but that has since stopped (as of the 2020 date of these photos).

The Albany Business Review says the county was about to hold an auction for the property, but its current owners filed bankruptcy two days prior - putting a hold on any further development or sale of the site.

As we can see from the photo tour, there is some magnificent architecture, window frames, even old murals on the wall depicting the a journey down the Hudson River from the City of Albany to New York City.

The most recent relics are some tools, ladders and construction equipment left at the scene, but there are some other pretty cool finds including an early flat screen TV, some antique door & window frames and a pool table in near perfect condition.

Remarkably, this is one of those abandoned places that has gone relatively untouched by vandals and graffiti artists. Let's hope it stays that way until a new use for the property can be determined. For now, it sits in legal limbo waiting to be renovated and rehabbed. Enjoy the tour!

Gallery Credit: The Sneakys Explore/YouTube

Source: Psych Ward Becoming a Childcare Center?

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