Deserted Places: October 2012

Monday, October 29, 2012

A deserted New York City, getting ready for Hurricane Sandy

As Hurricane Sandy is approaching New York City, the MTA announced that all subway, bus, and commuter rail service would be suspended, beginning at 7 p.m. EDT on October 28 and expected to continue through at least October 30. All PATH train service and stations will be shutdown at 12:01 a.m. October 29. Here are some eerie photos showing huge New York transportation hubs abandoned due to Hurricane Sandy.

Grand Central Terminal closed early on October 28, 2012 in advance of Hurricane Sandy. This photo shows the largely empty Terminal after the last trains had departed.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Aaron Donovan

Times Square, normally the busiest station in the system. The previous systemwide suspension of service took place in August 2011 for Tropical Storm Irene.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Aaron Donovan

The largely empty Grand Central Terminal after the last trains had departed. Metro-North Railroad took the opportunity to scrub the floors of the lower level dining concourse

Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Aaron Donovan

Monday, October 22, 2012

An abandoned rocket manufacturing plant in Florida

Aerojet, a rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer, opened its Florida facility in 1963 anticipating that solid-fuel rockets would need to be constructed for NASA's upcoming Apollo moon missions.

Inside the facility, a 150-feet (about 46 meters) deep silo was created to build and test the rockets, the deepest hole ever dug in Florida. Also, 'Aerojet canal', the largest and longest canal in Florida was built to connect the plant with the Atlantic Ocean and enable the transfer of the incredibly heavy rockets by barge.

In the end, NASA decided to use the liquid-fueled Saturn rockets for the Apollo missions, Aerojet never signed a contract and the facility had to be abandoned in 1969, only 6 years after its creation. The factory remains a destination for urban explorers until today.

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Naaman Fletcher/flickr.com

Monday, October 15, 2012

An abandoned concert arena in Western Australia

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Perth Entertainment Center opened its doors on 27 September 1974 and for the next 3 decades it was the venue of choice for many top international rock and pop artists. Queen, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, U2 and Oasis were only few of the names that performed on its stage.

The indoor arena, built in the city center of Perth, Western Australia, had a capacity of 8,000 seats and it is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest purpose built regular theatre (containing a proscenium arch) in the world. Except of music concerts, it also hosted theatrical plays, musicals, circuses, corporate functions and international beauty pageants (Miss Universe 1979). From 1990 to 2002, it was home to NBL team Perth Wildcats and from 1988 to 1989 to WNBL's Perth Breakers.

The venue officially closed in August 2002 and remained abandoned ever since. It was demolished between May and December 2011, and now a new facility called Perth Arena is being built in its place.

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SEE ALSO: More abandoned theaters and arenas around the world // More abandoned places in Australia // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES
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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Holy Family Orphanage in Marquette, Michigan

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Built in 1915 in Marquette, Michigan, the Holy Family Orphanage was the dream of Marquette Catholic Diocese Bishop, Frederick Eis. It cost somewhere between $90,000 to $120,000, an astronomical sum at the time. The mammoth structure was designed to accommodate 200 children. It was furnished with classrooms, a dormitory, bathrooms on every floor and an annex that housed heating and plumbing facilities. There were laundry and kitchen facilities, a large dining hall and playrooms.

The orphanage stayed open for more than 50 years. At the end, its inhabitants were a group of Cuban children, refugees from Fidel Castro’s Revolution. It finally closed in 1965 and since then it has been left abandoned. Today, the six story building stands with half of its windows boarded up and an over-growth of trees and wild foliage that seems to be melding with the dilapidated structure. Many urban legends and myths are circulating about kids being tortured and dying inside the orphanage, while there are also reports of ghost sightings inside the building.

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SEE ALSO: More abandoned places in Michigan // More abandoned places in the United States // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES
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Chad R. Johnson/flickr.com

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The UFO houses of Sanjhih

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The UFO houses of Sanjhih (三芝 can be romanized as "Sanjhih" or "Sanzhi") -as they were nicknamed- was an abandoned building project in the Sanzhi district of the New Taipei City in Taiwan. The futuristic buildings were intended to be a vacation resort marketed towards the US military officers coming from their East Asian postings.

Construction begun in 1978 but the project was abandoned 2 years later, due to investment losses and several car accident deaths and suicides during construction. Legend has it that the accidents were result of the blasphemous act of bisecting the Chinese dragon sculpture located near the resort gates for widening the road to the buildings.

After the resort's abandonment, the UFO houses became a tourist attraction due to their architecture. There were plans for conservation of at least one of the structures but between late 2008 - early 2009, all buildings were demolished to make room for a commercial redevelopment of the area.

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