|
|
|
UER Store
|
|
order your copy of Access All Areas today!
|
|
|
RedBush
Location: Twin Cities, MN Gender: Male Total Likes: 13 likes
| | | Went out to Lowertown Depot for old times' sake today < on 9/2/2015 12:31 AM > | Reply with Quote
| | |
| |
| RedBush
Location: Twin Cities, MN Gender: Male Total Likes: 13 likes
| | | Re: Went out to Lowertown Depot for old times' sake today < Reply # 13 on 9/3/2015 4:48 AM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Honestly, that's how I feel about what happened to the Rock Island Swing Bridge in Inver Grove where I grew up. (Vid here https://www.youtub...atch?v=hL0hKchLEm0) It used to be so cool, just going out in this forgotten corner where I could hang out alone with my thoughts, admiring the 100-year old trusswork, and at night you could just hang out halfway out in the middle of the river, with the refinery on the other side giving the wakes this yellow/orange sparkle. Best part was the railroad section on top where if you made it across the questionable or altogether missing ties (it was always windy as hell up there, too), you could sit unhindered at the edge and just hang out with your thoughts (which, being the headcase hermit I tend to be, I did pretty frequently) When the city council made plans to convert the thing into a "recreational pier," I was actually part of the group that lobbied to save the thing, and we were promised that it would be constructed exactly like the original, but, yeah. That didn't happen. In regards to "another one bites the dust," what else can you really say about it that doesn't make you sound like some flowery hippy? It's a disappointment, but it's done. Nothing anybody can do about it now, except find other places.
| |
| Clockwork
Location: Minneapolis, MN Gender: Male Total Likes: 248 likes
I WILL KILL THIS MONKEY! I'M CRAZY!
| | | | Re: Went out to Lowertown Depot for old times' sake today < Reply # 15 on 9/3/2015 12:09 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Oh my god, MEGA LULZ. Posted by Peptic Ulcer You're absolutely right - I have no idea what I was thinking. Today's architecture is incredibly inspired and well crafted - meant to withstand the test of centuries of anything mother nature can throw at it. I drive by strip malls and suburban sprawl every day and think to myself - thank god we tore down that old factory or the 150 year old hospital to make way for the new McDonalds.
| Your comment highly offends me! Your flippant love for tearing down 150 year old hospitals is everything that's wrong with this country! People lived, loved, and died in that hospital! They watched their kids grow up in that hospital! They planted flowers and wrote poetry and lived the American dream in that hospital! How dare you value that new McDonalds over our lost architectural heritage! Oh wait, you were being sarcastic. Ah... Nice. I didn't realize you understood sarcasm. Posted by Peptic Ulcer Even a cursory glance at European UE sites puts most things we have in the US to complete shame. They remodel and reuse their real estate rather than rip it down and put up some aluminum framed box.
| First off, this aint Europe. The economic, historical, and cultural factors that created and maintained the historical abandonments you see in Europe do not exist or largely apply to the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Also, some of our best abandonment playgrounds have recently been remodeled and reused, diminishing our number of available urbex locations while successfully preserving historic architecture. Posted by Peptic Ulcer The fact of the matter is that the only reason any of us are even here is because we care about and enjoy these locations. We shouldn't rejoice in their destruction and revel in the glee that we're getting a new Best Buy with a Starbucks next door in the crated construction style infecting every city in the country.
| Dude, NOBODY is rejoicing at the destruction of Lowertown Depot. NOONE. Especially not Dalmaticus, who pours his blood, sweat, and tear into more UE projects in a week than you've participated in during the course of your life. His comment was sarcasm (which you've already demonstrated a working knowledge of) and perhaps a bit exasperated, as we Twin Cities explorers have watched 90% of our best abandonments (Lowertown Depot wasn't one of them) get torn down or repurposed over the past few years alone. You are right, we are all here because of the feelings we get and the enjoyment we take from these places. Posted by Peptic Ulcer Progress has to happen and trust me you wont find a bigger capitalist than me,
| Well, you are from Texas, where everything is bigger. But come on! Are you seriously telling me you are the biggest capitalist in Texas? You'd have to be a war-crimes-level capitalist to brandish that dubious honor. Posted by Peptic Ulcer but tearing down something just because its "Old" rather than rehabing the location is what takes away the character of a city. 20 years from now if you're still doing this you're going to regret all of that "tear it down for progress" as you're trudging through a crackerjack box with a crumbling Wal-Mart sign out front.
| You speak as if we are the ones responsible for Lowertown Depot's destruction.
| |
| Clockwork
Location: Minneapolis, MN Gender: Male Total Likes: 248 likes
I WILL KILL THIS MONKEY! I'M CRAZY!
| | | | Re: Went out to Lowertown Depot for old times' sake today < Reply # 16 on 9/3/2015 12:47 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by Peptic Ulcer Maybe I'm a bit sentimental, naive or old fashioned but "Yea...another one bites the dust" shows a complete disregard for the respect these sites deserve and reflects the exact same attitude that taggers and scrappers have. I am personally offended by what you said but given that you couldn't give a shit less about a place being leveled my feelings wont even register on what minuscule bit of empathy you possess.
| Look, maybe my above post was a bit disrespectful. I think we're all on the same side here, and we all share the same love and respect for these locations. But I feel like you really went off on a tangent without understanding some broader context of Lowertown Depot's destruction and Dalmaticus's sarcastic "rejoicing" in its destruction. For the better part of two decades, the Twin Cities held some of the greatest jewels of Midwestern urban exploration, both above and below ground. The urban exploration community blossomed and grew, and visitors from all over the PLANET came to visit us and enjoy our bounty of explorable sites. For a long time, you could enter a tunnel by the river, go through some more tunnels, climb up some ladders, explore a basement, explore a towering building complex, and reach the tip top roof and climb the giant neon sign to look out over the city. And right across the river was another towering building with a neon sign where you could repeat the same steps and do it all over again. And it was like this all across the city. History - real local history - some of the biggest and best breweries, flour mills, and hospitals (and a slew of other historical structures) responsible for the creation, growth, and character of Minneapolis/St.Paul had become vacant playgrounds for urban adventurers. Ditto for caves and tunnels. For two decades these things were available to us. You didn't have to settle for reading about history in a book. You could go and touch history, revel in it, and experience in-situ historical architecture in ways difficult to replicate anywhere else. Then, a few years ago, this all started to change dramatically. One by one, mainstays of exploration - places people thought would last forever - suddenly vanished from the landscape. In some cases this was good for historical preservation, as newly-condofied Schmidt Brewery and Abbott Hospital won't be demolished any time soon. But too too many other places met a wrecking ball or explosive demolition fate. Even our caves and tunnels aren't safe. In addition to the regular backfilling and sealing typical with caves, some have actually been physically destroyed by new construction projects. Lowertown Depot sat empty for a million years, and was tucked away in a place that made its destruction seem unlikely. It was not particularly interesting architecturally, and the scrappers/vandals/party kids had long ago destroyed anything visually interesting about it. But in a world of rapidly dwindling abandonments, Lowertown Depot felt safe and solid. Lowertown Depot is a place where a lot of people cut their teeth on urban exploring. For many kids, Lowertown Depot was the first abandonment they ever saw. Hell, members of Action Squad learned and practiced skateboarding in Lowertown Depot's halls and rooms (the floor was perfect and smooth). Lowertown Depot was a place for urban camping. It was a curiousity to nature hikers. It's where ghost hunters would make amature films. It's where hobos found rest. It's where Max Action finally found his abandoned pirate ship. In the broader scheme of things, Lowertown Depot was a very minor abandonment. But we are all sad to see it go.
[last edit 9/3/2015 12:49 PM by Clockwork - edited 1 times]
| |
| |
This thread is currently Public. Anyone, including search engines, may see it. |
|
All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site:
UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service |
View Privacy Policy |
Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 203 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 739606018 pages have been generated.
|
|