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My American adventure rumbles on...and boy does this place have a story!
The day I arrived in America, my cohorts for the first weekend were already exploring Gary and noted down this place as they were driving past. The time came for us to venture back to Gary as a big group and this one was on the list to check out. By this time we had been joined by an additional pair of faces so our ever-increasing group now numbered nine, which in a city as dangerous as Gary really isn't too bad an idea all things considered. We parked our cars on some waste ground and assembled out the front, eyeing up the large section of building that had collapsed to the ground at some point not too long ago, weighing up whether it was safe enough to make a dash up the rubble and into the first floor. We also were paying close attention to the replacement church built when this one closed, built pretty much next door. We decided against the run up the precarious-looking pile of debris and instead one of our group found an alternate way in and kindly opened the door for us.
Inside there isn't a huge amount to see as most of it must have ended up in the new church, but the cross built into the ceiling was very cool and the balcony still retained all it's seats. There were also two full wardrobes full of clothes used by the church, which me and one of my friends spent time wandering around in for a laugh. Overall in a city full of trashed, burnt out and ruined locations it was very nice to see something kind of intact.
Now comes the interesting part. Remember how I said next door was the new church? Well, unbeknown to us at the time, one of my friends had ventured back outside and was taking photos of the front when a pair of ladies approached him from the new church. They got talking and it turned out one of them was the pastor. During the talk, he frantically sent one of us a text saying 'whatever you do, DON'T come outside now' but this didn't reach all of us. I was waiting in the main church to get a shot facing the balcony and slowly everyone dispersed, after which I packed up and joined the others in a big stream heading out the front door right in front of the pastor! The look on her face was amazing, she didn't know what to think. I was the last out, and she asked us how we got inside to which I nonchalantly replied 'the door was ajar' in my best British accent
She was cool after all that, once she saw we had cameras and weren't out to steal things. She was asking us if all the glass and radiators were still inside, and after saying that the door needed a chain on it she and her associate from the church went in to check things out. We took that moment to run away, we ran and dived into our various cars and drove off and everyone shared much laughter later at my answer to the 'how did you get in?' question
Thanks for looking, more here https://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/albums/72157659234990700
The day I arrived in America, my cohorts for the first weekend were already exploring Gary and noted down this place as they were driving past. The time came for us to venture back to Gary as a big group and this one was on the list to check out. By this time we had been joined by an additional pair of faces so our ever-increasing group now numbered nine, which in a city as dangerous as Gary really isn't too bad an idea all things considered. We parked our cars on some waste ground and assembled out the front, eyeing up the large section of building that had collapsed to the ground at some point not too long ago, weighing up whether it was safe enough to make a dash up the rubble and into the first floor. We also were paying close attention to the replacement church built when this one closed, built pretty much next door. We decided against the run up the precarious-looking pile of debris and instead one of our group found an alternate way in and kindly opened the door for us.
Inside there isn't a huge amount to see as most of it must have ended up in the new church, but the cross built into the ceiling was very cool and the balcony still retained all it's seats. There were also two full wardrobes full of clothes used by the church, which me and one of my friends spent time wandering around in for a laugh. Overall in a city full of trashed, burnt out and ruined locations it was very nice to see something kind of intact.
Now comes the interesting part. Remember how I said next door was the new church? Well, unbeknown to us at the time, one of my friends had ventured back outside and was taking photos of the front when a pair of ladies approached him from the new church. They got talking and it turned out one of them was the pastor. During the talk, he frantically sent one of us a text saying 'whatever you do, DON'T come outside now' but this didn't reach all of us. I was waiting in the main church to get a shot facing the balcony and slowly everyone dispersed, after which I packed up and joined the others in a big stream heading out the front door right in front of the pastor! The look on her face was amazing, she didn't know what to think. I was the last out, and she asked us how we got inside to which I nonchalantly replied 'the door was ajar' in my best British accent
She was cool after all that, once she saw we had cameras and weren't out to steal things. She was asking us if all the glass and radiators were still inside, and after saying that the door needed a chain on it she and her associate from the church went in to check things out. We took that moment to run away, we ran and dived into our various cars and drove off and everyone shared much laughter later at my answer to the 'how did you get in?' question
Thanks for looking, more here https://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/albums/72157659234990700
