Recent Photos of Hancock Field, NY

Looking North

Looking East

Looking South

Looking West

Note that the phone number of the realtor is clearly visible, in case one of you wealthy guys wants to call and make a down payment.

Tom Page writes:

When I visited the SAGE complex about two years ago, I noticed a phenomenon that I first heard about on the TV series, "Life After People." That is, the concrete in the blockhouses` exterior walls is crumbling due to the rebar corroding and expanding. The same thing is reportedly happening all over in older concrete structures like bridges and overpasses. It was interesting to see this up close.

The concrete walls on the Power Plant building and the cooling-tower enclosure show the same deterioration.

November 2004 photos & notes contributed by C. John Zirolli

John writes:

Last November, I took a memory trip to Syracuse, NY for a bit of a nostalgic look at the SAGE DC-CC complex where I spent almost 3 years inside its formidable concrete walls. (I recall we were told those wall would withstand a nuclear hit. I`m still laughing at that joke).

A few views of the SAGE DC/CC building.

The sidewalk, above, led to the central doors of Barracks 222, below. Barracks 222 was the housing for the SAGE crews in 1963

This is the "model airplane stand" which once supported a BOMARC missile. The missile was put in place after I left SYADS, although I did get to see it once when I visited about 1986 or so.

The service club still stands, but is now the home of an environmental cleaning firm.

Base chapel. My son Joe was baptized in this chapel by a Chaplain Captain Quinn. The photo immediately above is the chapel interior, now used for storage. A 1963 photo of the chapel is presented below. You can see the SAGE DC/CC building at the right side of this photo.

Taxiway and hardstand revetment respectively, above. During WW-2, Hancock Field was a stopover base used by brand new B-17s and other aircraft coming from the west coat on their way to the ETO.

Photos by Tom Page

These three photos were taken on Saturday, 21 August 2004.

This photo shows my old quarters at 328 Bedford Circle. This housing unit is representative of all those in the former family-housing areas today -- heavily overgrown and thoroughly vandalized. The insides were all smashed up (windows, walls, light fixtures, porcelain fixtures, etc.). I couldn`t help thinking about all the times I mowed the grass and used the interior facilities ... and then to see it like this -- really sad.

This photo shows Bedford Circle, looking west from in front of my old quarters. The weeds and trees have grown so tall that in places it is almost impossible to see the old housing units.

Unlike the family-housing areas, the SAGE complex looks very much like it did when it was active.

24 Jan 2004 photos from Bob Spiers

From the web site http://www.syrairport.org/about/hancockfield/runwaypix.cfm