Design

A 'Building of Awe' With an Uncertain Future

Time is running out for the Paul Rudolph-designed Orange County Government Center in Goshen, New York.
The Paul Rudolph-designed Orange County Government Center in Goshen, New York.Stephan Brander

To some, the Orange County Government Center in Goshen, New York, has a façade only a mother (or a modernist architect) could love.

A midcentury structure chockablock with boxy window openings that jut out like so many square periscopes from thick concrete walls, the 1967 building has leaked and been neglected for years. Then Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012 hit southern New York State and brought in flooding and more damage, causing the county government to move out.