Front Entrance

I used to shop at ASDA (it's British subsidiary) which as far as I know soon to take on the Wal-Mart name. That was, until I found out about their buying practices and learned first-hand from a friend of mine how they treat their staff - Dickensian doesn't come close...

yes, my union sends monthly news mags trashing wal mart and unfair labor practices.

I HATE WAL-MART.

Makes you wonder if this is what Sam Walton had in mind.

Wal-mart is the nemisis of Historic Preservation (along with developers). Once a Wal-mart enters a community they slowly push out the Mom n' Pop stores along with other smaller chains by offering lower prices that smaller companies can't compete with. It usually starts with a normal sized Wal-Mart store. Once the majority of competition is gone, they can actually raise prices slowly given the fact you can't get items cheaper anywhere else. Abandoned Walmarts are actually becoming a major problem in planning blight now. Once a Wal-mart has generated enough business they can then afford to build a bigger, better "Super Wal-mart". However, instead of simply demolishng or expanding the old building, it is left abandoned. The new building is built usually within a couple miles of the old one. The Wal-mart corporation makes enough in profits so they don't have to sell the abandoned property or do anything with it. Walmart also refuses to reuse historic buildings...even if the building is in perfect condition...Why? because the corporate officers claim people won't recognize a Wal-mart if it is not the grey block building with the red and blue signs. Well guess what McDonalds and Burger King do it...why can't they? And considering they can afford to pay for the demolishment of these historic sites...the local government doesn't care.

The alleged statistics in 2004 were as follows:
Everyday there are 3 new Wal-marts built and or opening.
There are 5 Walmarts abandoned every month (with the reminder they are rebuilding elsewhere)
Every month 25-30 historic sites are lost to make room for new Walmarts.

Those my friends are the sad true facts...please don't support Wal-marts

Not that I condone walmart tearing down historic sites, or anything....but....Could you imagine a walmart opening in an old abandoned asylum? You'd have to walk up or down to all the departments....What would they use all the patient rooms for? If they have all this money, they should just build somewhere else, and leave the historic sites alone....

RAGDOLLEDWAHINE, DID YOU KNOW OF THIS SAD TRUE FACT? THERE ARE MORE THAN A FEW SORRY ASS, RICH MFERS OUT THERE CHOMPIN' ON THE BIT BECAUSE THEY CAN'T BUILD ON GETTYSBERG. . . . . . YET.

The've been trying to protect Gettysburg for years. It's such a lovely, hallowed place. I hope it continues to be protected, but who knows? Humankind has been known to build eyesores wherever they can. It's another one of those magical places my Dad introduced me to.

I thought Gettysburg was a national monument, thus can not be touched by Wal*Mart. I was only there once. Easter Sunday 1964

Tony - Actually putting any chain in a building such as this is not as far fetched as you think. It is no different than seeing a McDonalds or a Starbucks in a 3-level building in the middle of an historic district. All it takes is the 3 R's of preservation, rehabilitation, reconstuction and renovation (the latter being the key here). Yes, you would have to jeopardize partial integrity of the building, (removal of walls, etc.) but it is the saving of the actual building that counts...at least it wouldn't be demolished. However, I agree, I would prefer to see Wal-mart move elsewhere and then see the ARB take up an active role in preserving the place for future generations. Unfortunately perservation is becoming a dying issue in America...after all why do we actually NEED old buildings *sarcastic there*

Puddleboy - I understand in many areas Wal-marts have been a blessing, they bring job opporunities to low-income areas and people and provide convenient shopping for those with little to no retail areas. I'll give you that and with gas prices, driving 13 miles is a bit far to go shopping. But trust me when I say that the fact that I can get to 3 different Walmarts with in 5 minutes of each other, not to mention the other numerous retail chains in the vicinity and they have the audacity to try and build a new Walmart backing up to Mount Vernon...I don't think so... By the way our community fought that and we won. However, as a Pressie, I would rather be spared any more "convenience" in our community and instead keep the open space and historic structures. Walmart needs to pick and choose proper locations instead of trying to become a conglomerate business.

Also just because something is deemed a National Monument or is placed on the National Register doesn't mean it can't be touched. It just means it's importance to American history, planning and studies is taken into account more so, than say if the govenment decided they wanted to put an overpass through your house. Here comes emminent domain. No historic structure is 100% safe in our country. Unfortunately not only do the developers trying to get the Gettysburg lands and other National Battlefields have money and government officials in their pockets, they also have very good excuses, although to many it seems feeble, it strikes a chord: "You can't save every battlefield." In other words, if as a preservationist you claimed this is where a major Civil War/Revolutuionary War/Spanish American war was fought, their reply is. "The wars were fought all over American soil that doesn't mean every blade or tree should be saved." Also you approach the question, "What determines an important battle vs. a non-important one? How much blood had to be spilled? Is one man's blood more important than anothers?" Deveolopers will also argue the fact that at Gettysburg the "actual surrender" "the most important aspect of the battle" didn't really take place on the battelfield...so what is the importance of saving it. Even the brightest and smartest Preservationists have trouble answering these questions. We do have answers, but the developers are always ready with new questions. I know, I have dealt with them may times in ARB meetings, court and congressional hearings...They are tough...

Marty - We have the same problem here with Bull Run and the Fredericksburg battlefields. Land is money, plain and simple to them. My personal favorite was Disney trying to build "Historic Disney Land" here on the Bull Run battlefield...A place "where history comes to life" You could ride the Underground Railroad, have tea with the Washingtons, and fight in a laser version Civil War battle among other entertainment. In fact I still have a protest sign with George Washington wearing a Mickey Mouse hat...

Alright I'm stepping off Lynne's soapbox now...again

I hope Wal-Mart becomes haunted

i think its bullshit that they are tearing down such an amazing building.

i mean i have spent so many years searching and exploring the dixmont site and i fell in love. why the fuck do we need another walmart when theres one in robinson? its close enough to emsworth. im just outraged about the whole thing. i guess im heading out the door to make one of my last visits. i will let everyone know whats goes on as long as i keep finding out stuff.

Beware the lurking construction workers. One in a red Dodge pickup alerted his boss (the guy in charge of the whole site I was told) yesterday when I visited with some friends. The boss called the cops on me and as we were walking back to my car getting ready to leave, the tow truck arrived to steal my car. Luckily for me, the cops and the tow truck driver were really cool with us and I think we got everything worked out, but I may still be charged with defiant trespass.

There are construction trailers down by Rt. 65 near the old water treatment plant and powerhouse where it seems that someone from the construction company stays 24/7. The police are on high alert now since on Saturday they told me someone got in one of the big Terex earthmovers and drove it into the side of a building. The cops also told me something about the EPA being a pain about people coming to the site because of the asbestos all through the main building.

BustedTrespasser there must have been another red Dodge up there besides mine. I was in the front by the T. Rex when you were walking around on the 2nd floor. I did not call the cops. Someone else called the superintendent of the job, and then he called the cops also because of the 50 ton dump truck accident. After I saw you and your Jeep I went to the ball park to get some pictures. After a while I saw the tow truck and you come out. I was leavening and got busted by the cops. I was taken down to the job trailer by the smoke stack. The cops questioned me, then the superintendent came along and straightened everything out. Hell I haul out of there during the week and got questioned on Sunday. I think its a bunch of bull shit due to the ASS HATS screwing with all the stuff. All it takes is one to screw it up.

i think there IDIOTS! they should not knock it down && build a dumb wal mart

Truckie, now I'm all confused. My friends and I were on the 2nd floor, I believe, when we saw a newer bright red Dodge pickup parked in front just down the driveway a bit from my Jeep and a guy by himself standing near the Dodge truck looking at the building. I don't recall exactly where the Terex was, there was more than one of them on the site that day I think. If that was you, I was assuming that you were a worker that was stationed at the site and you called your boss to report trespassers. I apologize for any false accusations made on my part.

Now I wonder who saw us and reported us? Of course, it was pretty stupid of me to park my Jeep right by the front door of the place, but I figured we wouldn't encounter any workers, being that it was a Sunday afternoon. Now I have to wonder who the other guy that I encountered in the cafeteria building was? He was walking around in the ballroom with a younger kid (about 16 I'd guess) and they were taking photos. We talked to him for a few minutes about the place and he seemed to be irritated that we were talking to him, so we left him alone after a while. We wondered back into Reed Hall and that is when I saw a policeman looking in my Jeep out in front. We went back out the back and walked around the building and back up to the front to see what was up. That's when we saw the two policemen and the superintendant. The superintenant seemed to be a bit of an asshat, but he never said anything to us. When he walked away to take a phone call, the cops really started to lighten up. I guess they had to look like they were doing something about people trespassing, so while the superintendant was listening, the cops were harder on us. BTW--the cops never called me or sent anything in the mail so I guess they dropped the whole thing. But when we were done talking to the cops, the guy and the kid we were talking to earlier came walking around the corner of the building and Mr. Asshat superintendant spotted them right away and told the cops there were more people and they went over to talk to them. I don't know what ever happened to those two because we got the hell out of there before we could get into any more trouble.

The tow truck driver was real cool with us. The cops told me that it was going to cost me $40 for the truck showing up and I had to pay the driver now or work something out with him. The driver told me to follow him down to a coin operated car wash down on Rt. 65 and just pay to have the mud washed off of his truck. Only cost me $2 so I was happy.

As for people going up there and screwing with the construction equipment, it is really stupid of the equipment operators to leave all the equipment unlocked. I work for a contractor and I had keys on me that day that would have operated most of the equipment on the site. We always lock our equipment if it is left on a jobsite unattended. Contractor keys will work in all equipment of the same equipment manufacturer, as you probably already know, so there are many keys floating around that will operate the equipment. I have a CAT key that would have started the CAT 330 behind Reed Hall with the claw on it. Looked like somebody already got into it and tore into Reed Hall in the back from a window on the 3rd story down to the window below it on the 2nd story. I know how to operate that machine because we have a 307B and 312BL that I have to run sometimes and the 330 is the same, just bigger. At least I have enough brains to know that it is extremely dangerous to just drive an excavator up to a 4 story building and try to tear it down. If a large section of the wall would have broke away, the cab of that machine would have been crushed, most likely killing the operator. It seems like that CAT machine with the claw attachment on it was there to pick up large trees to load them on trucks, not tear down 4 story buildings. Good God, that could get real ugly real quick.

Word to the wise: do not EVER go onto a construction site and mess with or attempt to mess with equipment/machines that you find there. You very well could get yourself or someone else nearby killed or seriously injured. Not to mention that many of these machines cost into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It might seem cool at the time, but it's not a lot of fun to lose control of a machine that weighs several times more than your house.

BustedTrespasser No problem. Apology accepted. I was looking at something on the 2nd floor at the window when you saw me.
The superintendent of the job was there due to the fact that someone earlier in the day stole a dump truck and wrecked it pretty good, and let it roll down a hill and in to a building and fall half way through it. They did something like $20, 000 damage to it.
I know there was a few other workers on the move there that day working up on the hill behind the dining hall. I think what happened was the superintendent saw someone and he told the cops to start to question people because of what had happened.
I have no problem with people exploring buildings as long as there not causing damage to them, or the site that they are on. That is what gets everyone in trouble and the cops involved.
B T the last part of you comment about the messing around with the equipment could not be any truer.
I haul and operate a verity of different equipment for different companies and they all due different thing with there equipment at the end of the day. Some just shut them off and some due a little more creative things with them. I don't want to say because I don't want to give anybody any ideas.
The bottom line is don't mess with the equipment, don't destroy the site or the buildings. If you do get stopped corporate with the people who stopped you. There just doing there job, and if you want to go back make sure you then get permission the whom ever is in charge.

I hate WAL-MART! WAL-MART sucks!

"Once a Wal-mart has generated enough business they can then afford to build a bigger, better "Super Wal-mart". However, instead of simply demolishng or expanding the old building, it is left abandoned. The new building is built usually within a couple miles of the old one. "

this is happening in my neighborhood right at this moment. i fucking hate walmart.

I am curious, are there no any mold spores in these old buildings? Are do these things even get into these builidngs. I know a family that had to move and have some kind of bathing treatment because of these mold spores.

It is a shame the time has run out on this amazing building.It would have been nice if the clock face had remained intact at the front of the building. Jason-England.

Was it a clock Motts?

I've been browsing the photos of these places and reading the posts... you're some interesting folks !:)
This really sucks, what a neat old, albiet, I suppose, haunted, building.
>sigh< Everything was so important at one time, now to be returned to dust. :(
This is my first post.
Wonderful photography by the way! :)

It is sad old houses and hospitals etc are a dying breed. in years to come all people like yous will be looking at are lots and lots of shitty supermarkets in their decay..... it's the sick way of ASDA/Walmart. the always ruin lives and pretty buildings. those fucking greedy [bad people - administration] ruin everything....NEVER work for them...i once did :'( *cries*

I worked for two companies that went under and left behind a bunch of empty buildings, Hills and Ames. We have also had FoodTown go under, Cubs, Farmer Jack's, etc.. All leaving hideous abandoned "box" stores behind. The Wal-Mart here has actually helped the "Mom and Pop" stores by attracting more people into the area surrounding the store. Of course here they knocked down an old hideous, abandoned "box" store to build it.

Enough of that.

The building in this photo appears to be waiting. You would think it enjoyed having people pick around inside it! This was an awesome angle to take this shot from.

WOW... u guys write a lot of stuff... ( not that it's a bad thing...) Did anybody protest the demolition? sum1 should have.

Dixmont's revenge against Wal-Mart --- the developers have caused a major landslide on this property. Tons and tons have spilled onto the main highway and onto the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks and they couldn't stop it!! They are still cleaning it up a month later.

Ah, I don't like Walmart... on the up side, this place will forever live on in your photos, which is something...

While it is true that Walmart has done some bad things, Dixmont's demise shouldn't be blamed on them.. The decay began almost 20 years before..
The buildings were in extremely sorry shape, and the asbestos wasn't very safe either.. I hate to say it, but vandals had a hand in it, as well as Mother Nature, and the people who salvaged the doors, windows, etc.
It still saddens me to see the old girl go.

What about the 1300 graves on dixmont propert is walmart going to build over them????

Nope, the state still owns the cemetery. It's up on the top side of the hill.

Not that it matters now, but Dixmont WAS designated a National Historic Landmark. If you look on the Dixmont Hospital site, there is a photo of the front of Reed Hall showing the plaque. The owner of the property was able to have it removed from the list due to the damage the building had suffered. I will miss it as much as anyone, (having visited there several times while it was still active), but maybe she needed to be finally put to rest. The indignity she suffered was criminal.

They still can't stop the landslide--and it's been since September! One lane of Route 65 is still closed. I think Wal-Mart lost out.

A girl name Kate Guerriero is putting togeather a clean up for the cemetery on the 26th of may. She's the producer of her Dixmont documentary; which is very good!

http://www.pittsburghl...region/s_501554.html

Man, Motts you're so lucky you go to explore that place. It's sucks it got Destroyed =( I wanted to explore someday...

i love state hospitals so much they should never touch this place it is a very sad but beautiful place to keep

Wally world sux....They actually built over a native Ameriacan burial ground in the Chattanooga area......(Cue theremin!)

Okay, I know I am chiming in about seven years too late, but I moved to Gettysburg in 1996 and there was already a Wal-Mart there. True, it was not on the recognized battlefield, but anyone who knows anything about the battle will tell you the entire Gettysburg area was a battlefield. I am not defending Wal-Mart by any means, however, I have boycotted Wal-Mart since 2004. Too bad about this old building, though. I just discovered this website, and love it for the beautiful old architecture (sp?) that is just not done anymore. Also, I have a little crush on you, Motts! ;)

I hate walmart so much... I seriously hope they burn. My hometown in Alaska has only one overpass, and it's all thanks to walmart. It's the stupidest, most god-awful waste of money I've ever seen in the history of the town. I boycotted walmart years ago, and still do. I miss the local stores, the mom-and-pops... better selection, better quality goods from them.

But it's even worse when historic, architecturally-beautiful sites like this get mowed over for the greedy, consumerist pigs.