Last night I revisited a classic Indianapolis location in its dying era.
The first time we went we got surprised by a security patrol and barely avoided getting caught. This time we knew what to expect, but that only helped so much.
We got in without a hitch. There's not much left of the facility, which used to be a coke plant. Demolishing is moving quickly and we were saddened to find that about half of the fun stuff remaining was now gone, so we wasted no time getting to the main attraction: a giant 10 or so story tall tower in the center of the property. We walked the tube:
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And soon we were on the upper levels taking pictures.
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While we were up there, we were able to observe the guard change shifts and then go on a patrol around the property. After he finished this patrol, we decided to try and go down the tower, knowing that there was some very photogenic natural decay towards the bottom. To get down the tower, however, one must go down some well lit exterior stairs on the face of the building totally exposed to the guard shack. We decided to risk it. The guard shack has no windows facing the building, so we figured if we made it quick we'd be fine. We get about half way down and naturally, this decision backfires. The guard comes out and walks towards a creek (away from us). We all take to the shadows and get low, praying he doesn't see us. About 10 nerve racking minutes later he goes back inside the shack and we decide, eh should probably just go back up and start heading out.
We're walking back down the tube that we took up the building when I, in the darkness of the tube while fiddling with my camera, kick over a very heavy old glass light bulb cover thing. It roles for a few seconds down the tube, making about as much noise as you can possibly imagine, and then some. It was deafeningly loud. We pick up our pace a little.
We get to the bottom,check around and it doesn't seem like the guard heard it. A relief. We start heading towards the exit when I decide, hey, it's all gunna be gone soon, I should take some exterior shots.
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About 10 minutes of me struggling to get decent focus and making my friend run up to structures and shine a flash light on them, we see someone walking towards us from very far away.
Naturally, we freak the fuck out and run into the bushes. We're kind of well hidden. If he didn't see us then we'll be okay, but we don't know if he saw us or not. A few tense minutes pass and there's no sign of him. We decide we should make a break for it. We can probably out run him well enough. He's far from his car and if he calls the police there are a million weird places we could get in and out. Plus, he's due for another patrol soon, so even if he didn't see us, he'd be around in another 10 minutes.
Long story short, we make it out without a hitch. It was definitely the closest I have ever gotten to getting caught. The location isn't worth the trouble any more in my opinion.
There are a few more picture's here, but not many:
https://www.flickr.../72157660877957896