Thoughts

Urban Exploring

Urban exploring has always been something I love. I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's the adrenaline of knowing that my being at old abandoned buildings is a bit frowned upon.

Maybe it's just seeing old things, rusted metal, rotting wood, essentially nature taking back what was once her own.

Maybe it's my love for photography. I can go to abandoned places, to experiment with photography by myself, without strangers surrounding me.

My senior portraits are going to be in an abandoned building.

I once went exploring with 3 of my best mates at some old buildings about 20 minutes from my house. There's maybe 5 buildings, and boy, is there little information about them.

For years I've been researching the buildings. The general consensus is that it was the college of agriculture, which makes sense, as one of the buildings is labeled "administration" and another "dairy". While this is completely logical, I've found forums instigating the rumours that the buildings were once used as tuberculosis sanatorium. People have reported hearing the coughs and cries of the patient's ghosts, as well as dramatic temperature changes. I don't know how well I believe this, but it adds a little history and mystery to the place.

I've also heard theories that the buildings were commissioned as a mental asylum. There's not much to be said about that. Mental asylums fascinate me, the say the least. They are eerily and creepily interesting.

Admittedly, I have a couple of stories I've obtained while exploring the premises, one being by my own human error and another being a slight paranormal experience.

When I went to the buildings with my friends about 3 months ago, I went purely with the motives of scoping out the area for a second time after a few years. I brought my professional camera, for purposes of my photography studies.

Mind you, I have been completely aware that the area is monitored by police. The huge yellow sign suspended from the shattered window frames that read "AREA UNDER SURVEILLANCE" is a bit of a dead giveaway. What I didn't know is that the surveillance cameras doubled as motion detectors.

Needless to say, I walked along a stone pathway that lead to a wall, with the outline of a doorframe built into it with bricks, as if a doorway once resided there and had been filled in with bricks. The wall was covered in black spray paint, which had been crossed out. I stepped within 10 feet of the building to get a closer look at the graffiti as well as take a few pictures, when alarms started blaring.

Now, these weren't "oh, got a little bit too close there" alarms, they were "CALL THE COPS THIS PERSON IS INTRUDING AND PROBABLY COMMITTING A VERY SEVERE CRIME IN THE PROCESS" alarms.

The alarms didn't even stop after a few minutes. The continued blaring and echoing off of the other buildings at an ungodly volume for about 20 minutes.

I'm not sure if the alarms are used as a scare tactic, because the cops never showed up, but let it be known, it sure did work.

A few years before the alarm incident, my dad and I had gone to the buildings to check them out, bringing my German Shepherd along, as the surrounding land is a dog park. Being my dog's primary handler, I walked her around as I investigated some of the buildings.

This must have been before the cameras were installed, because from my recollections of that day, I had gotten pretty close to the buildings.

I walked around the side of a building, my dog by my side, and turned around a corner of the building. Something must have unnerved my dog, because she started jumping up and yelping with all her life, trying to get away from the building.

Now, keep in mind, this is a fully grown German Shepherd, who was trained to stand her ground loyally. If she was genuinely spooked merely by the setting, she certainly would not have made the fuss that she made. Not once have I seen that dog make such a scene over anything. She has been known to stand her ground to protect her human with everything she has, and the fact that she was so terrified of whatever was around the corner that she was willing to bail on me says something.

My take? Something is going on there. The buildings may not have been a mental asylum, but I have no doubt that they were commissioned as a tuberculosis sanatorium during an outbreak. There's ought to be something paranormal happening there.