Fox 19 Coverage

For those who missed Gordon Bombay and myself on Fox 19, they've uploaded the video to their website. Check it out below to hear a bit from the guys behind the photos:

Urban Exploration on TV

Mainstream media is abuzz with excitement about "urban explorers." After a great article by Quan Truong at the Cincinnati Enquirer, interest in this site, and the site of our good friend Gordon Bombay at Queen City Disco grew quite a bit. The AP picked up the story and newspapers like the Boston Herald, The Examiner, USA Today, and even the Dayton Daily News ran the story as well. Anyways, the hobby of taking pictures of old abandoned buildings was interesting enough that the gang at the Fox 19 Morning Show wanted to have a chat about exploring and the photography that goes with it.

So be sure to tune in to Fox 19 on Friday, January 29 at around 8:30am to see myself and Gordon Bombay try to not make fools of ourselves on live TV.

Thanks to Amie Dworecki for the photo of Venkman and Gordon, and thanks to someone in Detroit for leaving an old TV in their abandoned building.

What: Gordon Bombay and Venkman on the Fox 19 Morning Show
Channel: Fox 19 WXIX
Time: 8:30 A.M.
Date: 01/29/10

Also, remembed to check out the Photography of Local Architecture, as part of the exhibit "Forgotten Cincinnati," that takes place later in the evening on Friday, January 29, as part of Final Friday.

Local Architecture: Forgotten Cincinnati Exhibit at Final Friday

The Photography of Local Architecture: Cincinnati will be part of the exhibit "Forgotten Cincinnati," that debuts on Friday, January 29. Forgotten Cincinnati features the urban decay photography of Sherman Cahal, Ronny Salerno, and Zach Fein.

"Forgotten Cincinnati," is an exhibit that features a collection of photographs from Sherman Cahal's Abandoned Online, Ronny Salerno's Queen City Disco, and Zach Fein's Local Architecture. Photographs will be on display at three locations:Park+Vine, Atomic #10, and Joseph Williams Home. All three are located in the "Gateway Quarter" amongst several other great galleries, restaraunts, shops, and bars. See this map provided by the Cincinnati Arts Association for the location of these venues.

The Event will run from 6:00 - 9:00 PM on Friday, January 29.

German Reformed Church

Aside from the decline of industry in the US, the declines in both population density and church attendance have left behind another architectural remnant of the past: churches.

The interior of a German Reformed Church in Cincinnati's West End.

While the abandoned churches of Detroit are amongst some of the largest and most beautiful works of architecture forgotten by the modern world, Cincinnati possesses a few smaller examples of these buildings that once served as neighborhood institutions. This article details a visit to one of those examples, the abandoned First German Reformed Church.

The steeple of the church is just one of many that peak out above the buildings of the West End and Over-the-Rhine.

Nearly 35 years of neglect has left this West End church in the state it is now. While there are few signs of vandalism or theft, the openness to the elements has allowed water and wind to wreak havoc on the interior of the masonry and wood structure. The visit by Gordon Bombay and myself was a treacherous one; rotting floors and water damage made walking around a difficult task. We watched our steps, making sure to stay on the floor joists and runners of the stairs, an extremely important part of exploring any older wooden buildings.

The visit took place on a freezing, but beautiful day.

The beautiful but slight details made certain parts of the church very impressive.

The beauty and scale that churches possess shows the level of importance they once had to culture and society. Their locations and proximity show the population density our cities once had. What they look like now shows just how much those things have changed.

The once boisterous street that runs beside the First German Reformed Church.