PHOTOS: A peek inside the squalor of Old East High School

It’s been about seven years since kids last took their seats to learn at the old Bremerton Junior High and East High School campus off Wheaton Way. To put it plainly, the school’s in really bad shape, as we documented in a story in the Jan. 1 Kitsap Sun.

To me, it appeared to be a kind of Chernobyl, where, minus a nuclear disaster, school could still be in session, minus its years of decay.

Organizers of the Youth Wellness Campus need about $5 million to tear down 125,000 square feet of the old school, built in the 1950s. It is now routinely vandalized, broken into and even set ablaze from time to time.

Meanwhile, the other side of the property — including its storied, air hangar-like gym — is being remodeled and will be included in the new campus.

For now, here’s a look around.

The gym will remain.

As will the weight room next to the gym, those this bulldog is going to soon be painted over.

Shoulder pads from football practices years ago remain stacked in a closet.

The old boiler.

Scenes from the courtyard.

Remember pay phones? Neither do I.