Manor House reservations completed

Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton just announced that the renovations of the original farm house, known as the Manor House, a roughly 10,000 sq. ft. building on the site of the former Mid Orange Correctional Facility, have been completed.

And the building has been leased to the Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to operate as an accelerator designed to launch new start-up businesses.

This County agency works to advance the local economy by retaining and creating jobs and attracting new businesses.

“This will be a launching pad for new businesses that can, as they grow, launch into other locations within our town providing jobs and tax revenues,” said Sweeton. “I want to thank the many local subcontractors who did a fantastic job in saving this very historic building.”

In 2011, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office announced that the Mid-Orange Correctional Facility in Warwick was on its list of seven prisons to be shut down to save the state money. And in 2014, the State of New York approved the transfer of the property to the Warwick Valley Local Development Corporation and the Town of Warwick.

One objective in acquiring the former prison was to create Warwick’s first and only business park that would produce tax revenues and provide jobs. And with that in mind Supervisor Sweeton contacted the Orange County Industrial Development Agency, which had created accelerators in other parts of the County.

The farmland that became the Mid-Orange correctional facility was originally acquired by Captain John Wisner, Sr. on September 8, 1766. The Manor House was built in 1842 by Henry B. Wisner

“The current renovation of the original farm house,” said Sweeton, “not only preserves this historic building but also creates an incubator for six start-up companies. These start-ups will have the potential to grow, producing jobs and tax revenues for our town.”