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Old prison gets makeover into new Warwick business hub

The expansive complex now houses a “seed-to-market” cannabis business, two of New York’s largest medical marijuana suppliers, a brewery, and even a sports center.

Blaise Gomez

Feb 13, 2023, 10:48 PM

Updated 668 days ago

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Barbed wire, gates and fences still surround a portion of the old Mid-Orange Correctional Facility, but the prisoners are long gone. 
Inmates are now swapped out for entrepreneurs and customers on the 733-acre grounds in Warwick that’s become a thriving business hub. 
The prison closed in 2011 and before that, it was a boys school that was founded by Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1930s. 
The expansive complex now houses a “seed-to-market” cannabis business, two of New York’s largest medical marijuana suppliers, a brewery and even a sports center. 
“We just felt it was very important to us to save this facility,” said Warwick Supervisor Mike Sweeton. 
Sweeton says the unique venture is proving to be major success with hundreds of jobs, tax revenue and renewed life in what was otherwise an old space. 
“We now have it back on the tax roll. We are getting revenue from that. We’re also creating good paying jobs and that’s really the key," said Sweeton  
Other businesses ventures are in the works, including a catering hall, resort, and sports school with dormitory. 
“We have businesses here that are growing with the support of the IDA,” said Orange County Industrial Development Agency CEO Bill Fioravanti. "It really has created quite an ecosystem here that is that is an economic engine at the same time."