The Hole Gym

 

Razing CHS gym 04-08-2016I heard that the old Central High School gymnasium was as dead as the War of 1812, but I wanted to see it myself. When I pulled up, I saw that the demolition area was surrounded by a fence.

I looked around to see if there was anyone I could ask to let me onto the site, but there was nobody around. Then, it dawned on me: if there is nobody around to GIVE me permission, then there’s also nobody around to tell me “No.” There were no “Posted” signs, so I walked along the fence until I came to the end of it where it was about three feet shy of touching the building. Noting that the space was large enough even for me, and seeing the dirt trampled down, I calculated that I wasn’t going to be the first person to use that entrance.

Not much to say about it

I mentioned in my last gym post that I didn’t have particularly good memories about physical education and the gym. I usually pick up a brick as a keepsake when I shoot an old building being torn down, but there wasn’t that much I wanted to remember about the place, so I passed.

Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move through the gallery. One thing that DID catch my eye in the debris: there was a lone black toilet seat in one spot, and a white one several yards away. I wonder why the restrooms would have different color seats?

 

 

 

Cairo: Turn Out the Lights

Cairo 07-25-2014I think of the old cliche, “Will the last person leaving Cairo, please turn out the lights.”

This was shot July 25, 2014, through an opening in yet one more building being torn down in Cairo. Click on the photos to make them larger.

Didn’t look bad in 2012

Cairo 11-13-2012The building didn’t look too bad from the front in November 2012.

Appearances are deceiving

Cairo 11-13-2012Like with so much in Cairo, a second glance tells a vastly different story. The walls were getting ready to cave in, and part of the roof had already collapsed.

It’s all over

Cairo 07-25-2014There wasn’t much left by the summer of 2014.

Some bricks being salvaged

Cairo 07-25-2014I saw bricks stacked on pallets, so maybe the building will reborn somewhere else. I’m always happy to see things being recycled.

Speaking of recycling, I’ve photographed Cairo since the 1960s. Here are some older stories and photos.