Urban Atrophy

St. Elizabeth's

About 100 DC Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire Tuesday night at the Saint Elizabeth’s hospital campus in Southeast DC.

It is the oldest federally funded psychiatric hospital in the country.

The hospital’s most infamous resident was perhaps John Hinckley, Jr., the man who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

The Department of Homeland Security now owns the facility.

Investigators are looking into whether lightning may have caused the fire, which was reported about 9:45pm as thunderstorms moved through the area.

St. Elizabeth's

The report firefighters received had flames showing on or near the roof, according to Fire and EMS spokesman Pete Piringer.  Crews got the fire under control shortly before 11pm.

One firefighter from Engine 32 was injured in the course of fighting the fire and was transported to the hospital. His injuries are not believed to be serious.

Schenuit Rubber

More than 100 city firefighters and emergency personnel battled a five-alarm fire that broke out Sunday morning in a mostly vacant, three-story brick warehouse in Baltimore’s Woodberry area, sending heavy smoke throughout the city. The burned building is the old Schenuit Tire Building near Union and Clipper Mill.  An official with The Concerned Citizens of Woodberry Association said the building started as the Woodberry Mill. Built in 1843, it is one of the oldest mills in the Hampden-Woodberry area, according to Tracey Brown, the group’s vice president.

The Fire Department was called about 6:30 a.m. and the fire was brought under control at 1:20 p.m., according to Chief Kevin Cartwright, a Fire Department spokesman. No one was thought to be inside the building that houses a handful of small businesses, no one from the surrounding area was evacuated, and there were no injuries reported from the blaze, he said.

Schenuit Rubber

Thick, dark smoke blanketed blocks and the smell of smoke was noticeable from miles away. Cartwright said the building was about 100 feet wide and 400 feet long, but he did not immediately know who owns the warehouse. Cartwright said an estimate of the damage should be available today. The cause remains under investigation.

At least four streets in the area were fully or partially closed until early Sunday afternoon, including 41st Street, Union Avenue and the southbound Jones Falls Expressway. The 41st Street bridge over the freeway was used as a platform for firetrucks to spray water onto the building, which sits across the JFX from a large Pepsi bottling facility. The Woodberry light rail station also was shut down.

The fire-damaged warehouse is less than two blocks from the old Union Mill at 1500 Union Ave., which a local development group plans to convert to a $20 million apartment complex. That building was not damaged by the fire.

Credit: WBAL | The Baltimore Sun
February 21, 2010

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Posted by: Gleno

“A few weeks ago I had a day off from work and had nothing to do. So I did what I usually do when I get a day off…explore! After speaking to a few associates about it we decided to check out the “Maryland Point Observatory”. After a two hour ride down, we find ourselves in nowhere land, with nothing but lots of swamps, woods, and a giant satellite dish. We find a place to park and over the swamps and through the woods we go to the observatory. There were only three structures on the premises two dishes, and a small shed like building. After taking pictures and climbing about the dishes we make our way back to the car, when we returned we found an orange sticker on the back window of the car saying that it was abandoned…oh the irony.”

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The Maryland Point Observatory is isolated in southern Maryland along the Potomac river. The isolation was required to avoid radio interference that could hamper the radio astronomy work done here by the Naval Research Laboratory. The first dish, an 84 foot wide telescope was built in 1958. A slightly larger second telescope was built in 1965. The 2 giant dishes were used to study radiation from the sun and moon and to pinpoint optically invisible phenomena in space such as black holes. The telescopes were last used in 1994 before the site was closed. The Maryland Point Observatory is scheduled for demolition.

the Kanner Building

An independent Jewish high school in Baltimore has announced plans to relocate its campus to the grounds of the former Rosewood Center in Owings Mills.

The Shoshana S. Cardin School for students in grades nine through 12 will purchase 55 acres of the property in Owings Mills from The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, which had abandoned its development concept for the site. School officials declined to make public the purchase price until the sale is settled.

The school parcel is part of the 300-acre state-run institution for the developmentally disabled that closed in June after its remaining patients were relocated to community settings. Rosewood, which opened in the late 19th century, once housed as many as 3,000 patients, many of whom lived their entire lives within its walls.

The Cardin School expects to adapt for its use the Kanner Building, built in 1972 and one of the newest facilities on the campus.

Cardin administrators will conduct a study to determine Kanner’s suitability for academic purposes. If the study finds conditions are favorable, renovation of the one-story brick building, which once housed offices and services for hearing-impaired patients, would begin in midwinter.

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The 8,000-square-foot building at Rosewood Lane and Garrison Forest Road would likely be ready for the new school year in September.

“We know this building is usable, solid and free of asbestos,” said Barbie Prince, head of the Cardin School.

About 60 students are enrolled at the school, which opened in 2002 in space it rents from Oheb Shalom on Park Heights Avenue in Northwest Baltimore.

“From the beginning, our goal was to own our own school,” Prince said. “The Owings Mills location is ideal as the Jewish population has moved northwest from the city.”

With 55 acres, the school will eventually add other facilities, including a gym and athletic fields, she said. The school’s nearest neighbor could well be Stevenson University, which is pursuing its interest in acquiring the remaining Rosewood property.

“It would be phenomenal to have a university as our neighbor,” Prince said.

Credit: Mary Gail Hare | The Baltimore Sun
November 12, 2009

So we all know how to take photos and video of our favorite abandonments.  It is an easy process and result that hasn’t really changed much in the past hundred years or so.  If you are up for a little more of a challenge you might wanna push your hobby to the 3rd dimension and try some 3D modeling.  3D models have many uses but are most commonly associated with video games, animated movies and special effects.  In the past 3D modeling was very difficult and expensive but now software like Blender and Google SketchUp make the task free and easy to learn.

a 3D model I created of the Gunther Brewery in Baltimore, MD

When it comes to old abandoned buildings the two main uses of 3D models include historic documentation/preservation and adaptive reuse.  2D and 3D Documentation provides a permanent record of the nation’s most important historic sites and large-scale objects.  A 3D model can also be used to accurately recreate a landmark or structure should it be damaged or destroyed.  Adaptive reuse is the process of adapting old structures for purposes other than those initially intended.  Some good examples of this in Baltimore would be the old American Brewery being converted to an office building and the B&O grain silo which was recently converted to luxury condominiums.  Architects and planners use 3D models of the existing space to build on for the new design.  Both historic documentation/preservation and adaptive reuse require very accurate 3D models which are created with the help of a technology called laser scanning.

3D laser scanner in use

To find out more about laser scanning click here.  While scanning is a great tool it is still a bit to expensive for the hobbyist which is ok.  If you are just creating models for fun or art there is no need for high accuracy, they just need to look accurate.  You can use photographs, archive drawings or even a tape measure to get all the info you need to create a good model.  I modeled the clock tower in the header of this article using only photos I took as a reference.

I started 3D modeling as a hobby about 5 years ago and have built a portfolio and skill set that has enabled me to work in many 3D modeling fields including historic documentation/preservation and adaptive reuse without any degree or schooling.  You could say I turned my urban exploration hobby into a paying career and you could too with a little patience and a lot of practice.  The internet is packed with information, tutorials and free programs to help you get started.  To start out I would suggest having a look at Google SketchUp and Google Building Maker.  These are free and easy to learn programs with lots of online help and resources.

a 3D model I created of an old fire house on the St. Elizabeth's hospital campus in DC.

If you have any questions about this article or 3D modeling in general feel free to email me at  danhaga@gmail.com.

Once you get past modeling you can start on some visualization and animation.  Click here to see an animation I created of the above brewery.

You may also want to check out the CG Society of Digital Artists.  This is a great website where you can check out other artists work and get help.

I am proud to announce the completion of the first Urban Atrophy calendar which is now available for 2010.  This is a 22 page 12 month coil bound full color calendar made up of member/fan submitted photos.

Click here to preview/purchase the calendar.

Enjoy!

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Posted by: TMDtheUE

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“So my two day trip trying to cover just about ever foot step at this infamous hospital paid off, I covered everything except for the female ward, mainly because a cop was at it the whole time. After battling bamboo forests, climbing in windows and almost getting raped. I went back for more. All though this place to allot of people isn’t much at all I found it extremely photogenic. Filled with decay, flooding and asbestos to the ceiling it is a true abandonment. Not a window left here with years of vandalism, and yet now its seems deserted. I tried my best to keep my photos away from the graffiti and focused on the what appears untouched parts of the buildings scattered on this two hundred and sixteen acre piece of land. Enjoy… or don’t, I guess that’s up to you.”

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Glenn Dale hospital is a sprawling abandoned complex surrounded by parkland and residential communities near Washington DC. It was originally built in the 1930s as a tuberculosis hospital than later used as a general hospital and mental hospital. In 1982 the hospital closed down leaving behind the massive children’s and adult buildings as well as many smaller surrounding structures that remain unused and abandoned to this day.

demolition progress as of this week

The Transfiguration church was constructed sometime in the early 1920s at 56th and Cedar in West Philadelphia.  The structure was comprised of an upper church which provided seating for about 1000 people while a basement level church seated approximately 400 people.  In 2000 the archdiocese closed the church, school, convent and rectory complex.  Today the entire site is being demolished to make way for the expansion of the neighboring Boys’ Latin charter school.

A Philadelphia salvage company is putting forth an effort to save some architectural work and relics for reuse but time is too short and most everything will be reduced to rubble and hauled off to a landfill.

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A member photo shows a new perimeter fence

It looks like one of our favorite abandonments is on the chopping block awaiting a fate that has become all too familiar in the area.  The DC Village Infirmary is slated for demolition which could start any day now.   Site preparations and ground breaking ceremonies have already begun.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) purchased the property for $6.45 million from the District back in July and plans to build a new bus garage on the site.  After the first phase of construction, 114 Metrobuses will fit in the garage.  A second phase could increase capacity to 250 buses. The facility also will dispense compressed natural gas to buses.  The garage will replace the 72-year-old Southeastern Bus Garage, which the agency stopped using last year because it was so close to Nationals Park.

site plan (infirmary to be demolished shown in red)

The D.C. Village was opened in 1906 originally known as the Home for the Aged and the Infirm at Blue Plains. The nursing home campus included a 5 story infirmary, a central building, auditorium, chapel and a sprawling complex of cottages. In addition to the elderly the center also accepted and treated mental patients refused by Forest Haven and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Throughout nearly the entire lifetime of the facility it was plagued with reports of poor living conditions, abuse, neglect, malnourishment and much more. In 1995 The Justice Department reported findings of 37 preventable deaths at the institution. The D.C. Village was than closed down only to re-open as a homeless shelter which would also be closed for overcrowding and “inhumane” conditions.

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Henryton State Hospital is located in a wooded, steeply sloped rural area in central Maryland.  The facility was established in the 1920’s as a tuberculosis hospital for the “Negro” population.  Henryton was converted to a facility serving the developmentally disabled population (i.e., mental retardation) in 1962, and closed in 1985.

Henryton has been closed for 24 years but hardly vacant.  Since closing the hospital has been a popular attraction to explorers such as myself but also vandals and thieves.  In the past few years the condition of the buildings has deteriorated greatly thanks to daily vandalism and multiple cases of arson including a fire on December 19th, 2007 which destroyed the entire theater.

Maryland officials have taken notice and it seems money is all that stands in the way of completely demolishing the hospital and returning the site to park land.  Several state agencies are in the process of writing draft legislation for the Maryland General Assembly to figure out how Henryton Center can be demolished and/or converted into land for park use.

the 2007 theater fire

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene owns Henryton Center and is looking to get rid of it.  Larry McAvoy, deputy director of the state office of Capital Planning, Budgeting and Engineering Services for the DHMH, said the Department of Natural Resources made the original request to buy the hospital’s land because it’s in the middle of the Patapsco Valley State Park.  McAvoy estimated that it would cost about $5 million to demolish the 16-building property. It would take three months to plan that demolition and six months to complete it.

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Seeing how fast the State demolished and cleaned up after the theater fire it wouldn’t surprise me if we just turned around one day and this place was gone.

The site has been looked at by a few developers with rehabilitation ideas and there are a few private organizations trying to save the old hospital but if you ask me time is very short for Henryton.