Northampton’s Central School building, located at Main and 14th streets, used to house blackboards and student desks. Soon, it will house new apartments with tenants.

Kishbaugh Construction, Bath, is completing the job, begun months ago, by converting the two-story brick structure into one and two-bedroom units - an endeavor that included modern-day touches while keeping intact its historic appearance.

A red-lettered sign outside the building notes rentals are now being taken. Borough Manager LeRoy Brobst said the owner has not yet requested a final inspection in order for a certificate of occupancy to be granted, but such an arrangement should be in the works shortly.

The exterior has undergone major alterations and renovations to accommodate the apartments, including replacing the entrance door and windows on the two floors. This gave the building a pleasing look while retaining the classic brick facade.

With Fella Studios and a hair salon nearby, the Kishbaugh property has off-street parking for its tenants.

Built in 1885, the brick structure first was Allen Township High School. The borough was a compilation of villages - Stemton, Newport and Siegfried - and became a borough in 1902. There were four students in the first graduating class and one teacher.

For reasons unknown, it was later called the Brooklyn School. And in 1910, the high school moved to Lincoln Avenue. The old building on Main Street housed elementary school children for years.

The property during World War II was a drop-off site for metals, food cans and materials for the war effort.

In the late 1940s and into the 1950s, it was a teenage center.

When the high school on Laubach Avenue underwent renovations in the 1980s, the 10th-grade class attended the Central School building.