(Part 2 of my Detroit/Cleveland adventure)
Our next destination, Detroit urbex tourists as we were, had to be the Packard Plant! There is nothing like it around… over a million square feet of giant, dead factory space with nothing in it but some vagrant homes, a precariously perched RV or two, and the best graffiti in the Midwest. Only one thing could stop us: Optimus Prime! Only one thing did stop us: Optimus Prime, surrounded by a film crew and attendent security. Oh well, looks like we got a sneak peek at Transformers 4… soon to be in theaters for who the fuck cares.
So we wandered around the east side of Detroit looking for something else abandoned. It took much longer than either of us expected to find anything besides condemned houses and burned out shells, but eventually we found a church in the parking lot of a Family Dollar.
Day care center? Priest’s break room?
Can’t see it too well here but the church sanctuary was surrounded by messages like this one
Just something weirdly beautiful about two thirds of a stained glass window
After church we wandered back downtown looking for the pair of abandoned hotels we saw out the window of Cass Tech. Which were two of the most solidly sealed off buildings I’d ever seen (yes, that’s concrete up to the 3rd floor windows!)
at least there was another across the street with a wide open door. And a hobo pissing right inside the door, who after an initial shock said “come on in!” These three sociable chairs in the lobby must be among the most photographed furniture on earth…
And a once-grand ballroom
Overall it wasn’t all that interesting a place; but it’s Detroit, and there’s always another around the corner!
(continued in part 3)