Calico the clown, Middletown’s famous roadside advertisement along Route 35, has certainly earned his infamous grin. In the last decade, the 1956 Food Circus store sign has been embroiled in a preservation battle that might be the cause of his grimace of late. Now, the town government finds itself in the throes of a builder’s remedy lawsuit with a developer that could finally decide the clown’s fate.
The developer, AAMHMT Property, is the contract purchaser for the 52-acre property in question. However, the Township Committee recently designated a different developer, Duva Development, for the Circus Liquor Redevelopment Plan, and the lawsuit seeks to prevent an official agreement from moving forward.
The story behind the Calico and the fight to save him can be a little confusing because it spans different developers and attempts to redevelop the liquor store and the sprawling property beside it that dates back to the 1990s.