Seven to Save Spotlight: Syracuse Central Tech

A photo of Central Tech’s Neoclassical facade.

This month we'll be spotlighting Central Technical High School, a magnificent building in the heart of downtown Syracuse that has been vacant since 1975. Designed by renowned local architect Archimedes Russell in a Neoclassical design, Central Tech was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1981. Years of vacancy have led to deterioration throughout the building, but one look at the facade and it’s clear that Central Tech is worth saving. Inside, you’ll also find the 2,000-seat Lincoln Auditorium, once home to the Syracuse Symphony, that would provide a remarkable space for performances of all kinds.

The City of Syracuse owns the building and is actively pursuing plans to bring it back to life.

“The addition of Central Tech to the 2020-21 Preservation League Seven to Save list is a testament to our community’s collective efforts to restore one of our most historically significant buildings. We are one step closer to realizing our dream of creating a state-of-the-art regional science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) high school and workforce training center in the heart of our city.”
Ben Walsh, Mayor of the City of Syracuse

Along with Syracuse City School District and Onondaga County, the City of Syracuse wants to turn Central Tech back into an active school with a STEAM focus. This project is one part of the City’s Syracuse Surge Initiative, which is comprised of a variety of projects that seek to equitably improve impoverished neighborhoods. The transformation of this historic building into a fully modern STEAM school will provide a case study demonstrating the value that adaptive reuse of historic schools can provide for communities across the state — restoring historic sites while meeting the needs of a 21st-century, technology-driven education. The League is always thrilled to see successful adaptive reuse of old school buildings and we hope to add Central Tech to that list. (You can also see a blog post that our Preservation policy Manager recently wrote on this topic)

We’ll be sharing more about Central Tech throughout the month. Follow along! You can find all the posts in this series by clicking here.