Woodbury secures $4M to convert St. Patrick’s education center into a new town hall

The Town of Woodbury secured $4 million in state funding to purchase the former education center at St. Patrick’s Church in Highland Mills, fulfilling a long-time goal of converting the location into a town hall.

In addition to moving town office space into the new municipal building, the new facility will also house village offices as well.

During a joint press conference held at the church on June 16, State Senator James Skoufis revealed that his office, along with the offices of Governor Kathy Hochul and Assemblymember Christopher Eachus, secured $4 million to fund the project, including $1.9 million to purchase the property and $2.1 million for renovations, at no cost to property taxpayers.

A new home for the Town and Village of Woodbury

Addressing the crowd, Woodbury Town Supervisor Jacqueline Hernandez expressed appreciation for the efforts made by past administrations. She grew emotional as she recalled being told by Skoufis that the town had secured full funding, reflecting on the challenges that the community had endured up to that point.

“It felt for a moment that we were a community and that we would have a space of our own,” Hernandez said. “That we would be able to preserve the programs that our parish has put in place for our children. That we would be able to create spaces that our town would be able to embrace. That our departments would be one again.”

Hernandez said the town is currently completing negotiations with the Archdiocese and will provide a timeline for when construction will begin. The project is targeting a completion date of 2027.

CYO basketball program to remain intact

Skoufis added that in addition to agreeing on the purchase price of the property with the Archdiocese, the agreement also includes the preservation of the CYO basketball program, which runs in the gymnasium.

Additionally, Skoufis noted that once the project is complete and town spaces are relocated to the new municipal building, taxpayers will no longer be responsible for the town’s annual lease expenses.

“Right now, the town pays $78,000 a year in a lease in the professional building up the street on Route 32,” Skoufis said. “The lease here will be zero dollars and zero cents that taxpayers will have to fund. And so once this work is done, once the town is out of the professional building and the lease moves here, that will also be at a significant savings to local taxpayers.”

Community concerns over the property’s future

Before funding was secured, the fate of the community landmark had been called into question after the Catholic Archdiocese closed the site in 2023 following a merger with Sacred Heart Parish in Monroe.

“This building has basically been vacant since several years ago when that consolidation happened within this parish, and [there’s been] a lot of community concern...about what was going to happen to this property,” Skoufis said. “Most concerning was the prospect that this would be bought, torn down and redeveloped in a way that we did not want to see developed. That was the looming threat that hung over this property.”

Since then, past town administrations have sought to purchase the facility. At the Jan. 14 Woodbury Town Board meeting, the council authorized Hernandez to send a letter of intent to the Archdiocese of New York regarding the town’s interest in purchasing the rectory at St. Patrick’s Church in Highland Mills.