Chateau De Bambi was beautiful! Unfortunately we ran in and had to pretty much run right back out – it sucked. We circled the perimeter and decided to just ‘go for it’! So we literally… More
Old County Hospital
Today we explored an abandoned ‘old county hospital’ and it sure did not disappoint. It was beautiful – covered in graffiti and decay 🙂 We headed out early in the morning, while it was still dark (as we typically do when we explore). Along the way, we stopped and grabbed some coffee and a couple of breakfast sandwiches. It was windy and cold outside. It was a nice pleasant drive and luckily for us, the old county hospital is directly off of the highway, easy to find and easy to gain entry.
When we parked the car, we strapped on the GoPro and grabbed our camera bags. We had to walk along the highway for a little bit, then hop over a [knee level] guard rail to enter the property. We scurried through the brush, which was super overgrown, and entered through an unlocked door. The hospital had an open floor plan with a courtyard in the middle. Unfortunately it was full of trash. It was a nice sunny day so we had lots of light as we walked through the hallways that connect all 4 parts of the building. 75% of the way through our explore, we ran into transient(s) living in one of the back rooms. We didn’t want to disturb him and for our own safety, decided to leave the premises. Oddly enough, we scared him and he also left lol. We saw him riding away on his bike. Below are a few photographs and snapshots from the GoPro.
LOCATION HISTORY: Even though the site of the old county hospital has long been abandoned, city supervisors were hoping to turn it into an asset for the community. The building itself has fallen into severe disrepair since it closed its doors back in 2008.
Abandoned Water Park
We finally made it out to this little gem in the middle of the desert. The roadtrip getting here was super fun and we loved every minute of it 🙂 We headed out of town, Friday (early evening) after the hubby got off work. We decided to leave at night, so that we could sleep in town and then hit the ground running – bright and early! But like literally….we were up and at ’em before the sun even rose.
When we arrived we strapped on our GoPro’s and our grabbed camera bag/backpack. Now we were ready to explore this beauty! Since it was just before 7am and already 80+ degrees, we kinda did a fast paced explore lol. Below are a few photographs and snapshots from the GoPro.
LOCATION HISTORY: The Lake Dolores Waterpark opened in May 1962. Park attendance peaked in the early 1970’s. However as patron attendance started to decline in the late 1980’s, and the park closed. In 1990 the park was sold, and reopened as Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark on July 4, 1998 – featuring a 50’s & 60’s theme. Over the next 3-4 years the park amassed over $3M debt and an employee who was crippled [in a 1999 accident] was awarded $4.4M in damages. In 2000 Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark filed for bankruptcy. The park reopened as Discovery Waterpark in May 2002 after $400k in renovations were made. Throughout the next few years the park was opened intermittently, finally closing in the summer of 2004.
Crime Lab / Elementary School
STATUS: Demolished (2017)
The former Stephen Foster Elementary School ceased to be used as a school in 1987 and was re-purposed as the City of Detroit Police Department Crime Lab. It was also home to the DPD’s Tactical Services Section, including special units like the Bomb Squad, SWAT, Sharpshooter unit, etc.
The infamous Detroit Police Department Crime Lab was shut down in 2008 after it was found routinely committing “serious errors” caused in part by “the deplorable conditions of the facility”. An audit, conducted by the State Police, uncovered serious errors in numerous cases and a 10% error rate was found in firearms analysis. The audit said sloppy work had probably resulted in wrongful convictions, and officials expect a wave of appeals in cases that the laboratory processed. Upon its closure, evidence from approximately 10,000 unprocessed rape kits were discovered in the lab, dating back nearly twenty years.
The auditors said that officers at the laboratory often cut corners and that in many instances “an assumption was made to the entirety of all items based on the analysis of only a few.” Technical reviews of the work were “almost nonexistent,” they wrote. Factors that contributed to the problems, they said, were a heavy workload, a lack of training and “the deplorable conditions of the facility.”
The Detroit Free Press reported that evidence, thousands of rounds of live ammunition, blood samples, sealed evidence kits and case files (some containing Social Security numbers of rape and assault victims) lay amid rubble in the abandoned crime lab that was open to trespass.
filthybean.com 