New Life for Century-Old Johnson City High School

Construction crews are busy transforming the former Johnson City High School into an apartment complex.

The Lane Group of New York acquired the property at 435 Main Street last summer.

The company plans to convert the main school building into 55 market-rate apartments. The school's old gymnasium facility is being renovated for use by Broome-Tioga BOCES.

The closed main entrance of the old Johnson City High School on November 10, 2025. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

The estimated cost of the project is $20 million. The four-acre parcel was purchased for $2 million.

The first section of the high school opened at the site in September 1915. Classes were held there until 1970 when a new school opened on Reynolds Road.

The old high school's gymnasium building is located on the north side of the property at 435 Main Street in Johnson City. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

Dozens of tenants - including businesses and churches - used the building for decades when it was known as the NY-Penn Trade Center.

The Johnson City code enforcement department ordered the site shut down in October 2024 after an inspector declared it an "unsafe structure." Vandals had damaged the building's electrical system and other parts of the property.

FLASHBACK: Inside the NY-Penn Trade Center in Johnson City on October 7, 2024. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

Workers have been busy at the former school property for the past three months. People driving or walking past the site haven't noticed much activity because it's been confined to the rear of the main building and isn't visible from Main Street.

Excavation and surveying operations continued at the construction site Monday as a steady snow fell.

WNBF NEWS VIDEO: A two-minute inspection of the Johnson City construction site on November 10, 2025.

WNBF FLASHBACK VIDEO: An amazing and disconcerting look inside the old high school in October 2024.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or call (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.

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