The Thematic Photographic theme for this week is “In rough shape”. Yesterday, Carmi posted this about a mill in his town that has been empty for 20 years. I immediately thought about the high school I taught at that has been vacant for four years, and is currently for sale.
I went down there today for the fireworks show that marks the end of the South Salt Lake Freedom Festival. They don’t want to compete with the Sugarhouse Park fireworks, so they always have them the day before.
Since the property is back in the hands of Granite School District, my principal and our old head custodian were there supervising, so we got a chance to go back into the building and see how it’s faring, reminisce a little bit and (of course) get some pictures.
As we entered the building, in the stairwell, I was struck by the debris that was on the floor, left there because there was no one to clean it up after it blew in under the outside door.
I’m not sure why they decided to wrap the toilet in the principal’s bathroom in a garbage bag, but they did.
Stains on the carpet in the principal’s office.
The pay phone in the main hall is gone, nothing but this little box to remind us that it was even there.
They were going to sand and refinish the hardwood floors in my math classroom. The marks I put down for placement of the desks were still there.
Water damage on the floor in my computer room.
They even took out the towel dispenser in the storage room off my old computer room.
The “G” on the front lawn. It was a bright red when we left in 2009.
Water damage on the floor in “Sardine Hall”. The thinnest hall in the building, right by the computer labs, it got a decent amount of traffic.
Severe water damage in the Auditorium (built in the 40’s) caused the walls to crumble, exposing the asbestos insulation.
The date was still hanging on my board, showing the last day Granite High School held classes. Opened in 1906, it was the second high school in the Salt Lake Valley. The flagship school and the for which the Granite School District was named.
For the students I met down there today, and anyone else interested in seeing the other pictures I took, here is the gallery.
4 comments:
My Father went to Granite and graduated in 1939. I followed, years later, and graduated in 1969. I will always have fond memories of Granite High School. Honor the Grand Old G!!!
Its sad when places we knew and loved are discarded like that. Good photos, though.
What a poignant view into an important phase of your life - and the lives of so many others. They recently closed my old high school for good, and I often wonder what it would be like to walk down its now-darkened halls. Thanks to you, I know what that would feel like.
Carmi - the weirdest part was not seeing everything gone, but the stuff that was still there. Like the date the board in my classroom. Little things that weren't worth the trouble to remove, but were important to us at the time. Kind of eerie.
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