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[Derelict]

Greetings, Derelict here (used to comment as Derelict Sensation), and I'd like to share with you a very personal building with you guys.
You see, in the city I am fortunate to live in, history is VERY important. the historic waterfront area has many old homes that are, for the most part, in great condition. I believe the buildings are protected on the grounds that, well, they're old and some are historically significant.


That's the power plant, which provided power to the Hercules Powder company. I don't exactly know what happened to it, but there isn't much left. Bricks, rusted out equipment, and that's about it. I first saw this on a ridealong at about 3 in the morning - I lit up the building with a spotlight (watching for some damned kids) and was infatuated with the shell.

The trains still pass on through.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the HPC Offices (affectionately called "The Brick Building").


I would like to show you some more of my photos, but the monkeys at my local one-hour photo hut graciously scratched my negatives and printed my friggin' black and white pictures green. Does anyone have any solutions to help me with my current negatives problem?
 ](*,)

Anyway, words cannot describe the beauty of this place. Marble doorway. Absolutely amazing. Smooth, high-quality stuff. The inside is even better - however, the day I was in there (SWAT training w/ citizens' academy), I didn't have my camera  :cry:. It's very well kept inside, except for dust (lots of it), scattered paper, and two pieces of grafiti. Every officer that's been in the basement for a prolonged period of time has reported some kind of uneasy feeling and some have heard footsteps, etc. Well, I was standing in the basement (everything is dark, windows are boarded, I didn't have a flashlight), when I felt the reverberations of footsteps behind me. I turned around - disoriented citizen? Hello? anybody?

But anyway, the building will most definitely be saved.

[Lynne]

Kewl!  My father used to work for Hercules for many years - both in Maryland/West Virginia and in Utah.  He was the plant safety officer in Utah and specialized in nitro glycerine.  If there was a nitro accident anywhere in the country someone (often military) would ask him to fly over and help them decide how something blew up, even if there was just a few bitty pieces left.  He has some great stories about making the place safer and about various accidents (although he still won't reveal a lot of the details since a lot of it was government stuff).

[MrMotts]

Cool stuff... you should get your money back since they botched your film, there isn't much you can do with the scratches on the negatives. You can always pulll the color out of photos on the computer in an image editing program.

Any re-use plans made?

[Derelict]

I believe that it will be converted to retail space or flats. It will most defnitely not be knocked down, as it's very historically significant, not to mention the active historic preservation groups in the area. The nearby "clubhouse" (wooden building, I don't have pix yet) is looking for a restaurant. The inside is in good condition - dusty, but very intact.
Nearby Benecia really doesn't give a damn about old buildings - they tried to demolish a 120 year old house a few years ago. Thankfully, a group stepped in and brought it back to life.

If I could have brought a camera to the Naval Weapons station (few cities away, went there for SWAT training), I definitely would have. All the houses there were scheduled for demo, sadly. There was a NICE Victorian (San Francisco style, nothing too elaborate) - went inside, and even though most of the doors had been replaced ( :cry: ), I could still see some nice touches - moulding, windows, some light fixtures, etc. The rest were mostly mid 30's to 40's houses - squat, boring, but could have still been viable housing. They've been vacated since 2000, and for the most part, time has been kind to the interiors. One, however, had a tiny little porch problem. There was a set of three steps, but being in the active shooter scenario as a suspect, first thing I wanted to do was run and hide. I skip the steps, and with a mighty CRUNCH, I'm about a foot shorter and I've got my leg stuck in a porch.

I will try to scan in my negatives later, and hopefully get out to the waterfront again. This time, I might try asking for clearance to photograph, as it may help me in a photo report.

EDIT: In April, I plan to head out to Bethlehem Steel for a perimeter walk. My uncle (the one who went to capitol hill during the price fixing scandal) died on the 16th at the age of 91. I'm going to take some pictures and send one to my grandpa, who refuses to talk about it.

[El Steveo]

There is a solution for scratched negs! I cannot recall the name of it now, but it is made by Kodak. It works pretty well. You should be able to find it at a pro photo shop.