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Middletown: A Photographic History

by Peter Laskaris


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structure measuring 31' 6" by 56' 6" would contain four classrooms, a combination gym/assembly room, and new lavatories. It would almost double the capacity of the school. The contract also allowed for improvements to the original building. The addition opened January 23, 1928, and the school could accommodate about 250 pupils, which was about 100 more than before. Completion of the addition also allowed the "portable" school building on the grounds to be eliminated. Architect of the addition was Edwin P. Valkenburgh.
At a special appropriation election August 18, 1904, voters approved raising $18,500 for construction of the Mulberry Street School. The school, which stood at 16-20 Mulberry Street, opened in 1905. It was torn down about 1965.
Middletown's next school, which would be Memorial on Linden Avenue, was completed in 1923 after many years of problems. In October, 1909, a proposal to build a school at about 129 North Street was rejected. Voters in 1911 turned down a location on Grove Street, as well as the Linden Avenue site where the school would later be built. An Albert Street site and another Linden Avenue lot were rejected in 1914. The land where Mount Carmel Church is on West Main Street, as well as the site of the old piano factory at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Grove Street were voted down in 1916. Finally, in 1917, purchase of the Hasbrouck property on Linden Avenue was approved. This was the site of John and Lydia Hasbrouck's octagon house, some would later complain the lot was too small. Early in 1917, architect David H. Canfield presented his plans for the new grammar School, little realizing at the time he would be asked to make many changes. Before anything could be done, World War I intervened. In 1919, a $356,000 bond issue was approved, and excavation began in December, 1919. After more delays, Moody Construction Co. got a contract to build the school in 1922. The school finally opened September 6, 1923. Originally to be called "Central Grammar School," the board changed the name to "Memorial" in honor of those who died during the first World War.
Middletown High School on Grand Avenue, now the Junior High, was originally to have a "Norinan-Tudor" look. In the summer of 1939, however, architect Robert R. Graham submitted a new tentative plan to Public Works Aàministration officials which was of a "Modern Gothic" design. Final plans were released in January, 1939. "Twin Towers," another example of Graham's functional yet beautiful buildings, opened September 4, 1940, although not quite finished. In September, 1976, it became the junior high school.
The present Middletown High School was originally built as Anthony J. Veraldi Junior High School. Ground was broken by the Board of Education President Anthony J. Veraldi himself in December, 1957. Designed by Robert A. Green, the school was dedicated October 4, 1959. The building was enlarged, becoming the high school in 1976.