This should come as no surprise to anyone after it was announce that 26 Middletown employees will be laid off due to budget woes on April 29th, I just heard that the Middletown Cultural Arts Center will be shutdown!The "Jewel of Middletown" located next to the Middletown Train Station, will be closed when nearly all of the Middletown Parks and Recreation Department is laid off at the end of this week.
The only thing that will keep the building open and operational, will be if the Township can find enough qualified volunteers to keep the building opened and programs running. If not the building will be shutdown.
The shame of it all is that even though the building will be shutdown it won't save the township much money in utility charges. The heating and air conditioning will still need to be kept running 24/7 so that the floors in the building don't buckle due to the humidity issues that plague the building. It's been reported over the past few years that the utility bill for the Arts Center run upwards of $350K a year.
What a waste!
