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Hello all! I'm from the Chicago area and I recently started exploring the cities near me for any abandoned places. I would love if I could meet some of you for some explorations when the chance arises.
With that being said, I took a few shots at an abandoned High School in what seems to be a dilapidated art room.
Here are some of the shots

Aaand I just realised how terrible my format came out :/

Damn that's a bombed out place

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Posted by blackhawk Damn that's a bombed out place

Oh yeah, being an art room, it's almost like some madman took a paint-brush and splashed paint everywhere LOL
Still... not as bad as some of the other rooms in the school. Like this one

Posted by MysteriousExpedition 1. click to view Oh yeah, being an art room, it's almost like some madman took a paint-brush and splashed paint everywhere LOL Still... not as bad as some of the other rooms in the school. Like this one

Interesting.
Acoustic panels on the wall to help deaden the sound reflection.
Thoughtful bastards

Posted by blackhawk Interesting. Acoustic panels on the wall to help deaden the sound reflection. Thoughtful bastards

I didn't even notice that! Even if the panels were removed, this just looks like it could have been a detention room lol

Looks rad. Dizzy(666)Chair Time made my mind jump to David Lynch's album "Crazy Clown Time". I did a quick google search and sure enough it does have a musical connection:
https://www.youtub...atch?v=HFMk3hJUa6Y

It sure looks like they played a gig there lol!

Posted by OpenHouse Looks rad. Dizzy(666)Chair Time made my mind jump to David Lynch's album "Crazy Clown Time". I did a quick google search and sure enough it does have a musical connection: https://www.youtub...atch?v=HFMk3hJUa6Y It sure looks like they played a gig there lol!

Oh wow, that's really cool! Heh, the more you know, eh?
I assumed Dizzychair was just one of those strange phrases you usually see written in graffiti in some ubrex locations. Really interesting indeed!

I think this is the earliest photo I have of this gym taken in 2010. Not much on the walls then.

Posted by kenfagerdotcom I think this is the earliest photo I have of this gym taken in 2010. Not much on the walls then. https://live.staticflickr.com/4119/4906185701_2eabdd57da_b.jpg

Fuck me I remember those crap desk benches.
Reminds me of some of the reasons I hated school so god damn bad.
It sucked.

It's crazy seeing all these old gyms with upper level tracks. None of the schools I grew up with had anything like it, we always had to go to the local YMCA for 'em.

Although it does suck seeing places absolutely destroyed like this, it's kinda inevitable, but still interesting and worth being photographed. I think I can appreciate a tag with enough thought put into it. It's really just the low effort dick tags that bother me.

Posted by android_eyez It's crazy seeing all these old gyms with upper level tracks. None of the schools I grew up with had anything like it, we always had to go to the local YMCA for 'em. Although it does suck seeing places absolutely destroyed like this, it's kinda inevitable, but still interesting and worth being photographed. I think I can appreciate a tag with enough thought put into it. It's really just the low effort dick tags that bother me.

Definitely! As much as I enjoyed exploring this place, I still had an ugly feeling in the pit of my stomach on seeing what was once probably a very unique looking gym turned to this.
Not gonna deny though. This place does have it's charms... morbid charms

Posted by kenfagerdotcom I think this is the earliest photo I have of this gym taken in 2010. Not much on the walls then. https://live.staticflickr.com/4119/4906185701_2eabdd57da_b.jpg

Holy crap!! That is both shocking and so cool! Thank you for showing that comparison. It's crazy to see the amount of damage this place sustained within only a few years. It's like the gym flipped upside down.
But man that is crazy...
I have pictures of the theater here too which I know is a popular location. But if you have pictures of that from before too, now that would be interesting as a before and after too.

Posted by MysteriousExpedition Definitely! As much as I enjoyed exploring this place, I still had an ugly feeling in the pit of my stomach on seeing what was once probably a very unique looking gym turned to this. Not gonna deny though. This place does have it's charms... morbid charms

I was just there last month! I know what you mean, it's one of the most bombed out places I've ever seen. Speaking of which, did you find the fallout shelters in the boiler room?

Posted by Aran I was just there last month! I know what you mean, it's one of the most bombed out places I've ever seen. Speaking of which, did you find the fallout shelters in the boiler room?

Oh yeah I think I saw that! Was it the one room that was pitch black with stairs? I checked that area and saw a few things that I need to go back to explore. I think it was close to the pool too?
I'm making it a goal to explore all the schools there since there are talks of them being demolished soon. Good to capture some history before that happens

Posted by MysteriousExpedition Oh yeah I think I saw that! Was it the one room that was pitch black with stairs? I checked that area and saw a few things that I need to go back to explore. I think it was close to the pool too? I'm making it a goal to explore all the schools there since there are talks of them being demolished soon. Good to capture some history before that happens

Yeah, it was a series of three long narrow rooms behind 1 inch thick solid steel doors on the rear left side of the boiler room. One of them had a shower area and the other two were for storage, and each one had a staircase in back leading down into a flooded portion where I think the main part of the shelter was.

You've got quite a bit of exploring to do if you're trying to to explore all the schools. Just a heads up, I've heard a couple things through the grapevine- first off, that many of the more recently shuttered schools are alarmed, and the police are uncharacteristically serious about keeping people out. Secondly, I've heard that their goal is to demolish another school every week, so you'll want to move fast. Good luck!

Posted by Aran Yeah, it was a series of three long narrow rooms behind 1 inch thick solid steel doors on the rear left side of the boiler room. One of them had a shower area and the other two were for storage, and each one had a staircase in back leading down into a flooded portion where I think the main part of the shelter was. You've got quite a bit of exploring to do if you're trying to to explore all the schools. Just a heads up, I've heard a couple things through the grapevine- first off, that many of the more recently shuttered schools are alarmed, and the police are uncharacteristically serious about keeping people out. Secondly, I've heard that their goal is to demolish another school every week, so you'll want to move fast. Good luck!

Thanks for the heads up! And yes, I definitely remember that room. I didn't explore the whole room since I was really hesitant to on the those stairs. They looked extremely rusted so I wasn't sure if it would a good idea to tread them. I'm going back to Gary in about 2 weeks. I've been really busy with some stuff recently. But this is a once a life chance. So I'll definitely get a little group to hit them up!

Posted by MysteriousExpedition Thanks for the heads up! And yes, I definitely remember that room. I didn't explore the whole room since I was really hesitant to on the those stairs. They looked extremely rusted so I wasn't sure if it would a good idea to tread them. I'm going back to Gary in about 2 weeks. I've been really busy with some stuff recently. But this is a once a life chance. So I'll definitely get a little group to hit them up!

Trend carefully on stairs.
Concrete ones too; have been known to fail without warning. Two engineers doing a structural integrity survey were killed like that at Byberry PHL over a decade or so ago.
Heavy water damage can cause deep unseen structural damage.
Anchor bolts are very susceptible to this as well.
Wet/water damaged walls are a bad sign...

I would target industrial sites including power plants, AT&T long lines, decommissioned military bases, sanitariums, and hospitals especially old ones.
More bang for your buck.

Posted by blackhawk Trend carefully on stairs. Concrete ones too; have been known to fail without warning. Two engineers doing a structural integrity survey were killed like that at Byberry PHL over a decade or so ago. Heavy water damage can cause deep unseen structural damage. Anchor bolts are very susceptible to this as well. Wet/water damaged walls are a bad sign... I would target industrial sites including power plants, AT&T long lines, decommissioned military bases, sanitariums, and hospitals especially old ones. More bang for your buck.

For sure. Those stairs immediately gave me alarm bells when I saw the amount of corrosion done to the railings. Plus it was in an area that was flooded before so the bottom footing of the ladder could easily give way.
It would be nice to carry a grappling rope to go down to otherwise inaccessible places

Posted by MysteriousExpedition For sure. Those stairs immediately gave me alarm bells when I saw the amount of corrosion done to the railings. Plus it was in an area that was flooded before so the bottom footing of the ladder could easily give way. It would be nice to carry a grappling rope to go down to otherwise inaccessible places

Just remember it's not just floors and stairs that can collapse.
Anything anchored to the walls or ceiling.
Just about had a couple hundred pounds of steel pipe come down on my legs and/or feet.
They were being stored on thick 2" angle iron brackets attached to a concrete or brick wall about 2 feet off the floor.
I was using one of the braces to balance myself as I squated down.
Maybe 10 pounds of my weight on it max.
*twang*
The brace pulls straight away from the wall throwing me backwards and off balance.
And the pipes start falling... just cleared them in time, barely, fuck.