Finding out the location	easy
Access	easy
Safety	safe
Risk of being seen	high
General condition of the place	very good
Traces of vandalism	none or very few
Good place for taking pictures?	very good
Did you see other people?	none or very few

Visit date    January 3 2021 at 3 hr
Visit duration    1 hour

Since my realization that old mill cities tend to have great bandos, I convinced my then bf to come with me to his hometown. He was on a townie fb page that shared info on local businesses closing or just general news. Nothing pertinent to urbex. While we cased the area, I had my eyes peeled for boarded buildings. We had just broken into an old stable used to house the contents of a nearby school. We also broke into a long abandoned theater. I took the pics down because to be honest, there was temporary lighting strung throughout the facility. It was as if they started construction but the project was put on hold. Im not one for photoshopping and plus they weren’t great photos. In the center of town stood a gigantic cathedral with the front doors boarded. I told him to park on the side street in an empty lot. The cathedral had a backside to it and first two bottom floors were boarded as well as any entrances. When we went around the back there was an inlet, and a door with old plywood. I insisted on doing the dirty work since it was rare for him to come with me. Needed to keep my skills up to par! I hammered the crow bar around the plywood for no more than five minutes before it detached. I ripped the plywood back and stepped into darkness. The back side of the structure had a row of classrooms. A unique staircase designed with x’s below the banister was at the center of the classroom hallway. Each floor it alternated from turquoise to pink. If there were four floors I’d have to assume, there were at least twenty classrooms? If you followed the stairs to the top there was also a screen door that opened onto the roof. Anytime I’m exploring a large building the roof and basement are immediate go-tos’.
The cathedral itself was breathtaking. Bare and untainted. The pillars and hand carved trim were painted turquoise and black with accents of pink. The ceilings towered arching into a classic point like most cathedrals. Even from the second floor I did not notice a crack in the paint job. The only evidence of abandonment was the plywood fastened to the entrances, and all the benches cleared. Rips in the wall as if framed icons were taken down. No decay. Just dust.

  Text and photos are by D4mge_C4se. Click here to see D4mge_C4se's profile and other reports.

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