Old class photos damaged

Some of them are 93 years old, and all of them speak to the past.
Unfortunately, many of Corning High School's alumni class pictures are in pretty bad shape after being left in storage during the past 10 years.
"Many of them have water and mildew damage, some of the frames and glass were broken from being moved around," said Sally Tollison, high school counselor.
Tollison and several others from the school and community have taken on the project of restoring the old pictures, but have run into funding and other roadblocks.
"We want to see them again hanging in the school, where they document the past, and where today's, and future students at Corning High School can see the school's commitment to the past and understand that same commitment applies to the future," Tollison said.
The pictures, dating from 1918 to 2000, had been displayed throughout the school until 2000, when the framed pictures had to be removed for the school's remodeling and new co struction project.
Since then, the pictures have been stored in the school's bus barn and other areas on campus, where they suffered damage from moisture and handling.
But now, all of the alumni pictures have been found, and are again under one roof, in a safe, dry area of the bus barn where they await restoration.
"It has turned out to be an enormous project, much more than we initially anticipated," Tollison said.
A couple of photographers and studios in the area were asked to consider the restoration, and all came back with the same response, "too big a project."
Tollison said that outcome left those interested in the restoration with two big, unanswered questions.
"We had to figure out who could do the restoration project, and how to pay for it to be accomplished," she explained.
Unfettered, they put the problem before the Corning Union High School Board of Trustees.
"The board realized the value of restoring the pictures, but with the school suffering from state budget cuts, they also realized the district couldn't afford the cost of the project," Tollison said.
What the board did agree to fund, was having someone organize and catalogue the work that needed to be done, and pay for the materials to hang the pictures once they are restored.

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Old class photos damaged