Memories of Corning's Northside school, once a hub of community activity

There used to be a school building there once.

It was born as Northside High School and evolved into Northside-Blodgett Middle School when they opened the two new (at the time) high schools back in the mid-1960s. Then, of course as everyone knows, those two schools were combined into one, and only one, high school.

Those decisions left huge question marks for middle school buildings Corning Free Academy and Northside-Blodgett. The Academy building survived and was converted into an apartment building. A nice one at that, with some very unique characteristics in the apartments.

Northside-Blodgett, on the other hand, was not so lucky. It was deemed in disrepair and the major decision was made to raze the building and dig up the surrounding green spaces to make way for single family homes that are now all completed and ready to be rented. The city block was referred to as Northside Place.

Walking by the area now known as Northside Place and seeing all the homes that have been built can certainly give one the sense of all the memories that have taken place on that tract of land. They are very nice looking homes that are very pleasing to the eye, but they can’t erase the memory of Northside High School.

When it was a high school, all the sports teams would practice on the field next to the school. It was nothing to see the Tigers working on their plays for upcoming games with guys like Bob Morse and Doug Benjamin running that option sweep. During track season, the cinder track, yes, it was cinder, was the scene of many close finishes to sprints, and over in the corner there was Nutser warming up for the high jump, long jump and triple jump. And, he hadn’t even taken off his sweats yet.

When the school wasn’t holding practices, that field, in the evening or on a Saturday afternoon, was the scene of many different kinds of pick-up games. During pickup baseball games, guys like the late Bobby Diliberto were whacking baseballs on the roof of the school. They’d get caught up in the light fixtures near the edge of the building. The local version of light tower power. A number of balls were hit off the brick wall, almost like the Green Monster at Fenway Park. When lacrosse became a popular sport, a number of kids used those brick walls to play ‘Wall Ball’, which helped them develop basic catch and throw fundamentals.

For a number of years, that field was the scene of the Adult Flag Football League games. Every Sunday, they’d play games from nine o’clock in the morning till about 4 p.m. in the afternoon. It’s easy to remember the Antoinette’s team in their replica Los Angeles Rams uniform tops win a ton of games with former Corning East star Bobby Doran at the helm from the quarterback position. The dude could play QB.

One softball season, the Corning 16-inch Adult Softball League actually played on the field when no other site was available. It was a little tricky trying to run two games at the same time. You’d have the right fielder in one of the games practically shaking hands with the left fielder in the game at the other end of the field.

Over the years, that block served as a kind of meeting place for kids of all ages, playing games of all kinds. From little kids being taught how to hit by their dads, to a bunch of kids or adults playing hoops on the Kingsbury Avenue side of the school where the tennis courts were. It was a common sight to see a dad with a bucket of baseballs tossing batting practice to his son or daughter in front of one of the backstop screens.

It was nothing to see a bunch of kids playing tackle football on the lawn in front of the building where the pillars were. One of the favorite games played at those school grounds was Capture the Flag. It was perfect with the big lawn, the steps by the pillars, the steps leading up to the area in front of the pillars and the small trees planted around that lawn.

If you were a resident of the Northside of town, whenever you walked or drove by the school and the grounds, there was always a bunch of activity of some kind going on. If you use your imagination now when you walk or drive by Northside Place, you can still see a kid hitting a baseball, chasing down another kid with a football, shooting hoops or taking part in a game of Capture the Flag.

Back in those days, if your kid wasn’t home, it was a good bet they over at Northside playing something.

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They can replace the old school building with 25 new homes and call it progress, but it’s tough to replace the memories. It is what it is. Here’s hoping those 25 homes can create as many great memories as that old school building has produced. It’s gonna take a while, but there is always hope.

Yup, there used to be a school building on that block. It’s gone now, but the memories will be there forever. To all the alumni of that school building – keep those memories alive.

-- Larry French writes a weekly column for The Leader.

This article originally appeared on The Leader: Keep memories of Corning's Northside-Blodgett school alive