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This old building which has been a very long time favorite of mine just continues to hang on. I have a feeling however its days are numbered, as a brand new Holiday Inn just was built a few blocks away to the West along the riverfront. This is truly the last of the last when it comes to abandonment in this area of the river.
Beware there's often time a lot of traffic in and out of the riverfront, I didn't have any trouble today, and was shocked that I never saw a cop, especially when I was out front taking pictures and not trying to be overly discreet. I was mainly worried about people seeing me come in and out of the building.
I was back here in October and the gate that is "guarding" (I use that term loosely) the building was wide open practically inviting me to come in. Today when I went, the gate was closed but not very secure (large opening in the bottom and only secured with thin wire. The fence on the west side where I gained entry the first time, had a new piece of fenced just "laid over" and zip tied in place. My thought process was if I got asked what I was doing, was I figured I could explain getting in if the fence had been down, but it would be much more tricky if I had cut the zip ties and wire. I did find a "low spot" on the fence that I could scale to get inside.
I say all this to say that the entry has gotten more difficult but not impossible.
I found the spiral staircase that has been talked about here, and did go down it. To be perfectly honest though, with it being pretty much in a pitch black area and incredibly narrow (people must have been much smaller in the 1800's) I wouldn't even know where to start to try and take a picture of it. I do know a few have tried. Once down stairs, I didn't stay long, to be honest I would have rather had someone with me, I feared if something happend, that getting help may not be easy.
I also explored through a few windows in areas I have not previously explored, the level of decay is incredible. There is no way anyone in their right mind should be trying to walk on any floor in this place other than the cement loading dock, or in the basement. I did see an area on the west side where the floor surprisingly looked intact, but I still wouldn't risk it.
It was quite cold outside today, cooler than it had been in a while, so I returned to my car for a little while, then decided to go all in with the Film and Digital cameras. In this process I met an elderly gentleman who seemed to know quite a bit about the building. He told me that a tire storage place was in there for a while after IH left. That would explain several things, like the slab of concrete poured on the loading dock that says "79" on it, and the misc tire paraphernalia that I have seen in the place. He said that they stayed there until the place started to show its age and began to have safety concerns, and then was vacated.
I took pictures as if I would never see it again. The problem appears to be money. I figure it will either go for a while longer, or could be gone tomorrow. But with the state of affairs in Illinois, it may still be a while yet.
It is interesting to think about what this place was when it was in its full glory. I'm sad that it can not be saved, but that's why we do what we do, to chronicle the decay so that one day far from now, we can look back and see what was there.
Anyways sorry for the novel, I am quite passionate about this place! It has and always will have a special place in my heart! Thank you for reading!
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