The Ammo Plant

This abandoned complex has been featured on the blog once before, almost a year and a half ago. I won't go too far into the history of it, since it's been covered before, and is also covered in great detail over at Abandoned. Two of my favorite photos ever taken came from here, so I only hesitated a bit when given a chance to photograph it again.

This trip took place on one of those rare warm and sunny days in the middle of winter. It snowed a few inches the week before, and it snowed again the week after; but 50f and sunny makes for a good Sunday afternoon spent outdoors. Of all the places shown on this website in the past, this one is my personal favorite, and the last visit I made (shown here) was the most memorable of all. Here are a few of the photos I took:

Looking out over the top of the massive complex.

Inside one of the first buildings entered.

Inside a building designed to pack ammunition in 1944, now empty and devoid of the machinery that was once used here.

What a typical building in the complex looks like*.

Another view of the same building.

One of the two coal fired power plants inside the complex; the first photo was taken from the roof of this building.

The sun had started to set by the time we had reached the power plant.

Much of the power plant was still seemingly intact and undamaged, despite being abandoned for decades.

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If You Missed It, Forgotten Cincinnati

The Third Annual Forgotten Cincinnati Exhibit was a big success. Hundreds of fans of Abandoned Online, Queen City Disco, and Local Architecture came by for the opening. While some photos are still on display at Joseph Williams, several pieces have sold. If you didn't get a chance to see the photos, the gallery below contains the photos that were featured and on display:

(or click here for a full screen gallery)

A few snapshops of the opening are below:

     

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St. George Fire

Three years ago today, a work light that had been left on accidentally caught a curtain on fire in one of the steeples of the old St. George Church on Calhoun Street. In the hours that followed, the fire spread to engulf one steeple, and the wind carried the flames over to the other. The two steeples that had towered over Clifton for 135 years burned for several hours on the freezing cold night, and by the time the sun came up the next morning, they were, for the most part, completely gone.

On February 1, 2008, the steeples of St. George burned through the night.

At the time of the fire, the church was no longer used by any congregation. It was vacant most of the time, minus an occasional community meeting. Luckily, the owners (Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation) had insurance coverage on the building, and decided to replace the steeples, some day. However, three years later the church still has temporary caps placed on the steeples. With no real occupant, it's likely the repairs won't be made until a viable client can be found to use the space. Despite it's former life as a church, it's not unlikely that in the coming years a restaurant or retail store of some sort will be interested in the building. A nearby church on the corner of Calhoun and Ohio is an Urban Outfitters, for example.

The following photos were taken exactly three years ago today, on a freezing cold night that saw the destruction of the first of many of my tripods. Despite no tripod and shaking hands in the ~10F degree weather, I managed to capture a few photos of the fire:

The Glencoe Hole

Glencoe Place was the subject of the first post on this blog. Over the past five years or so, I've been to Glencoe frequently, mostly because I live close, and also because it's pretty easy to drive through and show people an "example" of the types of places I like to explore. The old post has as much historic information on Glencoe that I could find, so I won't get into that here. Instead, I'll point out some of the things that have changed at Glencoe over the past few years. Unfortunately, none of them are positive changes.

Looking north at the courtyard out of one of the main buildings at Glencoe.

Unfortunately, the past few years have taken a toll on Glencoe. When I first visited, it seemed like the sight have some semblance of potential. Today, however, I think Glencoe may very well be a lost cause. A myriad of problems have plagued the place over the last decade, from the freak windstorm of 2008 that blew the roofs off a few of the buildings, to the utterly disgusting mismanagement on the part of the developer, as well as the City of Cincinnati (browse this thread on UrbanOhio to see a bit more about that).

The units inside Glencoe are mostly destroyed, and much of the old wood framing is water damaged to the point that it likely won't be repairable. While it hasn't been in good shape since it closed, the deterioration seems to have increased exponentially over just the past few years.

A kitchen in one of the units at Glencoe.

One of the upper floor, common area hallways; the units at Glencoe, while giving the appearance of row houses, are actually mostly small apartment units.

An interior of one of the larger, 3 bedroom units at Glencoe Place.

Some of the stellar brickwork that abounds Glencoe, I'm not sure what the proper term is for a course that begins as one horizontal brick, changes to vertical, and then to two stacked horizontals, but I think it's something like "half-assed."

An exterior shot of Glencoe, on a dreary street that's shady most of the day, most of the year; note that this was taken before the plywood doors and windows were painted the goofy colors they are now (you can see this in the first photo, and the next one).

The historic entrance to the "Glencoe." I'm always amused that they decided to make the word "Glencoe" into a complete sentence by putting a period at the end. I'm not amused at the lame attempt to follow "broken windows theory," and think that painting the boarded up windows gaudy colors will make the place any better.

So, to summarize, in my opinion Glencoe Place is approaching the point of no return very, very quickly (if it isn't already there, which it may be). It's a glimmering example of mismanagement, and has started a quest toward becoming a disgrace. It also serves as an example of a horrible attempt at a public-private partnership, like a bizzaro-Cincy version of 3CDC. On top of that, the city decided to paint the doors and windows gaudy colors.

Third Annual Forgotten Cincinnati Photography Exhibit

The Photography of Local Architecture: Cincinnati will be part of the third annual "Forgotten Cincinnati" exhibit. The show debuts on Friday, January 28, with a special opening from 6 - 9 PM. Forgotten Cincinnati features the urban decay photography of Sherman Cahal of Abandoned Online, Ronny Salerno of Queen City Disco, and Zach Fein of Local Architecture.

The exhibit debuts at two locations, Park + Vine at 1202 Main Street, and Joseph Williams at 1232 Vine St, just two blocks away. Parking is easy on the street, and is free after 5:00, or the lot at 12th and Vine is fairly cheep. Both of the venues are within walking distance of one another.

Visit the Facebook Event Page to RSVP and see who will be stopping by. Also be sure to check out the Joseph Williams Facebook Event Page, as the Forgotten Cincinnati Exhibit will be a part of their third anniversary celebration!

The Event will run from 6:00 - 9:00 PM on Friday, January 28. See this map, provided by the Cincinnati Arts Association, for the location of the other venues participating in the monthly "Final Friday" gallery walk.

To summarize, here are the details:

What: Third annual Forgotten Cincinnati exhibit opening
When: January 28, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Where: Park + Vine (1202 Main Street) and Joseph Williams (1232 Vine Street) - see map below:

View the Forgotten Cincinnati Exhibit Venue Map in a larger map

The Best Abandoned Building in Cincinnati

2007 and 2010, respectively, in the Crosley Building

There are a lot of abandoned places in Cincinnati. The abandoned subway is clearly the mother of them all, and despite being the most fun to explore (no matter how many times I do it), it's not quite my favorite. It's so tightly locked up and untouched by outsiders, that it's exactly the same every time I go. Over the past four years, I've checked out the Crosley Building even more often than the subway, (check here and here for other posts on Crosley).

Interior, Crosley Building

The last few times I've been to Crosley, it's emptied out quite a bit. It's been a mix of the owners cleaning out the junk, in perpetual preparation for something, and people undoubtedly swiping souvenirs. It's still different every time I visit though, be it new graffiti, more or less junk, or just shifting light conditions and quality.

Former 700 WLW Offices, Crosley Building

The photos here were taken over the past few months. I'm currently working on a thesis project, as part of my masters degree in architecture, and my focus is on abandoned spaces, with the Crosley Building being my specific example. I'll likely post more about that in future posts. As of now, I hope you enjoy the rest of the photos below!

The Courtyard Facade, Crosley Building

Abandoned Office Area

Warehouse Floor

Some Bigwig's Office

Sunset Behind the Crosley Building