NACC celebrates 100 years of NFHS building

The Niagara Arts and Cultural Center celebrated a century of the high school building built at Portage and Pine Avenue with a party Saturday night.

It included wine, food, karaoke, dancing and an incredible amount of history. It’s likely no one remembers but the school burned to the ground in 1922 and was replaced with the current facility.

For a couple years, students studied at the YMCA and anywhere they could set up a classroom. Pure speculation, but perhaps some bars around town were used. Think about it. That was the heart of prohibition.

Class pictures lined gallery walls. Old yearbooks were displayed. An incredible amount of work went into the displays.

Those who put the celebration together deserve lots of gratitude and respect.

It is also worth celebrating how some volunteers like Georgia Bradberry chipped in and helped out helping staff like Kelly Lang handle things.

No idea where they stand in finding a new executive director after Kevin Leary left for the Kenan Center Theater in Lockport. The job is demanding because there are so many tenants, the budget is always a struggle and every 100-year old building comes with the struggle of maintenance and upkeep. Running the NACC has to be a bit like herding cats.