This is a great photo essay - given the kind of garbage they build these days, for just about any building type, I am always baffled at the efforts they used to put forth in antique architecture...ESPECIALLY for industrial/municipal purposes like this - my favorite shots are those of the ornate fireplace and doorway, but tops is the shot of the oval MARBLE walled room looking out towards the generator...Really great stuff, Motts! (For what it's worth, I send you as much traffic here as I can find - most people are stunned when they see it...)

This was a great post up until this point - not because of this amazing shot, but because you didn't take a pic of the patrol boat...it would have been such a good pic to finish the story with...Oh well... ( of course I'm just teasing - this has been a great story to read and see...)

The before and after shots are always the best - can't believe it was once sitting in the wide open, and all nice and clean...

Talk about jealous - this type of scene is what we all long to find - giant, open buildings, buried under years of abandon...Excellent stuff...!

This is a great shot of a true artifact...thanks again for the info about it and it's maker - that is what sets you apart, Motts!

I love this shot - I'm fascinated by vines and trees growing around things that were once in everyday use...As usual, Motts, this is a fantastic photo essay of an incredible find...

WILL HE PUSH THE JOLLY CANDY-LIKE BUTTON??? ( think - Ren and Stimpy, when the media guy was tempting Ren to push the red panic button...( anybody???) He actually got up over it and slapped around it with his butt...funny stuff...oh, never mind...

Now that it's getting warmer, it's just this kind of decay that you can smell as you get close to an abandoned building. Mold, mildew, rotting wood...Damn, I love that smell. Does that make me weird?

My old Kodak software had a similar effect you could add to the shot - I used it on some of my pics from NOHO, and it really does bring out that sinister look of these old buildings.

Wait - I took those souvenirs - does that make me a vandal? Do I need to hate myself? I'll give them back if you all think I should, but can I keep the spoon? It's great for cereal...

I just finished a bowl of cereal that I ate with a spoon stamped "B.S.S". So there. I took a spoon. Does that make me bad?? Then what about the bowling pin, or the hanger stamped "Belchertown State School"? Pics of them to be posted on photobucket...Meg - I was there last Saturday, from 10-3, the day before the fire. You're right tho - it's weird how open it all is. I for one would prefer they block it off and try to keep us out - that way it might survive a while longer. I hate vandals/arsonists. HATE.