Teachers (1984) vs. COSI Columbus

Inspired by a recent post from a friend on facebook, I thought I'd finally get around to this post I've been meaning to do for years.

The Nick Nolte movie "Teachers" was partially filmed in and around the grounds of Central High School in Columbus, Ohio. The building had ceased being used as a school in 1982. The movie was filmed in 1983. The building then sat mostly empty until the early 1990s when it was used to host the Son of Heaven  Imperial Art of China exhibit. After that closed, the building sat empty for years until the COSI science center came along in 1999.

Right now, I'll post the screenshots from the movie I took with few comments, and then when I have some time in the next few days, I'll try and get some comparison shots from around the building to show what the areas look like today.

We're going to start with the external shots.

This stairwell leads to the South Courtyard, by the Atomic Cafe

This is from the West Side, used to be a lot of stuff over there.

Wide shot of the original West Side, probably shot from close to Belle Street, near the "football field" front lawn today.

East Side stairs

Details above the doors, and awesome air guitaring

The West Side used to be the secondary entrance, believe it or not.

More East Stairs

English Plaza was once a parking lot.

Another West Side angle, the garage doors on the left held an auto shop class (at least in the movie)

Unsure what the building is in the background. It would have been next to Vets Memorial, which is just off camera to the right. 

Belle Street and a glimpse into Franklinton

Vets Memorial in the background

I barely remember that old Vets Memorial sign

Aerial view of the school, East Side / Washington Street

For those that know COSI know that for years there has been a giant pile of dirt just south of the building.  That dirt used to be the health department building. Sadly, it's likely to remain a pile of dirt for a while. Anyway, this is Town Street they are heading to.

East side planter on the right of the screen

Hard to see, but the only shot I've found that has Broad Street, or any bits of downtown Columbus

Walking by the railing to the North Courtyard

For those of us that come from Northbound 315, and take the Rich / Town exit...they are driving the wrong way down the 1-way portion of Belle Street here (it used to be 2-way back in the old days)

Belle / Town stop sign

This is where the grass parking lot is today. .

And now, a few internal shots. Only a few bear any resemblance to what's there today, but it's still interesting to see.

East Side entrance 

Our big wooden doors seem much nicer.

The school's office

The AEP Building in the background, meaning that the office was either where the Mezzanine workspaces, or where the Teen Tech Studio is located today. 

Doors in background, lead me to believe this is where Space is today 

First shot of the main stairwell on the left

A couple classroom shots, just to show what they were like

The trees in the background look very much like the views out the windows of our East and West Meeting rooms today

Late in the movie, there's one more shot of this classroom, and you can make out just the edges of some of the buildings that are across the river in downtown Columbus.

The Teacher's lounge seems to overlook the unknown building I posted earlier, as in the next shot...

The roof on Mount Carmel West Hospital is visible on the right.

At least our bathrooms are nicer.

I've been told that the Extre...err... National Geographic Giant Screen Theater is located roughly where the gymnasium was.

When our school went to see the Son of Heaven exhibit, I remember distinctly this hall of lockers. We had a short film presentation inside one of the classrooms.

You think these hallways are long??

Main stairs

A look out the auto shop doors, originally on the West Side

I know the building in the background still exists, but don't quite know what it is.

I honestly only put this picture here because A) Richard Mulligan is awesome. B) It's hilarious. C) See A.

And did I forget to mention Morgan Freeman's in it too (in a bit part)?

That's all I have for now. Again, I do plan to do some picture taking around the building in the next few days to try and get some comparison shots.

If you've never seen the movie Teachers, I recommend it. It holds up pretty well for being 30 years old now. It's loaded with 80s star power: Nick Nolte, Ralph Macchio the year of Karate Kid, Crispin Glover the year before Back to the Future, Laura Dern, Judd Hirsch, Morgan Freeman...it feels like this should be at least available to stream on Netflix or something, but it isn't. It is amazingly hard to find, unfortunately.

It also spawned one of the greatest movie theme songs ever... bring it home .38 Special!!