After a few months of sparse exploration my partner and I were itching to get out again. My Partner, with her skills has affectionately picked up a couple extra titles, “Recon Rita” and “Google Gloria”. Google Gloria was looking at some news articles and older sites online when she stumbled across this place! It closed down in or around 2001 and was near enough for a quick recon! I had a few things going on that first morning, but they weren’t until later in the day! I decided to try a 2-for-1 and I traveled to the long abandoned YMCA first because it is not too far from the Wabash site…
The YMCA site is a story all to its self.. I parked and walked around the building many times. The YMCA is located a couple hundred yards from Lake Michigan with a park in between. It being early June and with the lakefront right there, there were a ton of pedestrians, joggers, police, and homeless people around the site.
After what felt like 3 or 4 laps around the building, tugging on all the doors and looking for an entry, I finally found an open window facing the lake on ground level. This place was very secure!(sadly, it keeps getting more and more secure) Even though there was an opening and I felt I could get in, it felt off! A huge 5-6 story building, that may contain homeless people sounded a bit sketchy for my first time there alone. I assessed my options, and then I proceeded to cover the opening. I tried to “hide” it with a large sheet of drywall that was propped against the building. I had high hopes that the next weekend would yield an entry for us both!
When we arrived early in the morning the next weekend, our entry point was still there! While we were getting ready to climb thru the window, a sheriff pulled up and stopped in the park just east of us! :/ He had a clear line of sight to our only entry (and potentially our only exit) and it seemed like we were way too exposed! I have no problem with getting a trespassing ticket, but I’d hate to be busted and get the ticket before even gaining entry to the site or taking any photos!!! We decided to wait until the weather changed and it started to get cold for winter!
Well, long story longer, We went back a few weeks ago, just before dawn with glorious plans to document the YMCA! As we arrived on the site I saw what appeared to be a new addition peering out of the darkness. A FUCKING reinforced fence with 3 layers of barbed wire on top. It was basically a juvenile detention center fence…. Needless to say, we didn’t gain entry. The YMCA is still on our list, but with that new fence, the foot traffic, the police presence, and the homeless people all around, it may be a while (if ever) till we can gain entry! The nice thing about exploring is, if you wait any amount of time, someone will punch a hole in the fence or the plywood for you! Guaranteed!!! I/We really do WANT/NEED to get in there! A full abandoned YMCA with most of the material and equipment still inside!?!(sign me up… someday-HOPEFULLY) Leaving this site that day, I was so dejected and beatdown.. Sometimes even the fun of exploring(or not) can wreck your day….
Now onto our main course. Once I identified my entry for the following weekend, I left the YMCA and headed for the 2nd site that morning. The old Wabash Alloys in Oak Creek WI is located equidistant between the road and the lake. It is strategically behind fences and in the middle of fields, so it took a lil planning to get to!
Luckily that 1st day I had already been beaten down by the YMCA, so my plan was to not fail, no matter what obstacles I encountered! Even though this explore was a bit sparse itself, it was a good way to ease back into our summer of exploring!
We hope you decide to give us a listen.. and to play along.. send any thoughts or emails to SendUsPlaces@DecadesofDecay.com
The 1st set of pics you come to will be mine from my phone(6.10), followed my partner in UEs pics from her Nikon!(6.18)
Play along on our Youtube page(Youtube.com/@DecadesofDecayUSA), or send us an email to SendUsPlace@DecadesofDecay.com
A few nonchalant pics of my YMCA recon.
Now onto Wabash!
Now for the pics from 6.18.23! The 1st pics are my UE partner’s with her Nikon… The last 10 are mine with my samsung A53..
On our way out of the site, as we were walking I saw a “fire pit” in the distance. I initially thought it was gonna be a homeless camp or a spot for a couple people to just chill and have a fire. Once we got a little closer, I realized it was an old sewer with the grate off! Upon 1st looks it was dry and ready for me to go underground! I peeled off my backpack and any extra layers/gear to make my entry. I sat on the edge of the manhole for about 3 or 4 minutes, breathing deeply and trying to identify any chemicals or substances that could case me to passout/faint, there were none.. Entering a confined space with almost no back up/protective gear up can be sketchy and I didn’t want my UE partner to have to try to fish me out or call for help. Then I popped in, and it wasn’t even an explore. The echos were fun though!
“It’s my beef in a hole” (Sung to “Dick in the box”) https://youtube.com/shorts/OKRHdjli_2w?feature=share
and now for the spicier Tiktok edit (beef’s 1st) https://youtube.com/shorts/BpYgGL9r_KY
Also, We have one bit of information we found on the web. This is something we don’t normally do, but maybe we will start! While looking up the history and location for this site, I stumbled across an old post from 5/20/2012 and it contained another explorers views and experiences at this site – Wabash. We hope you enjoy their work too.. We are not connected or affiliated with the photographer of these pics, I just thought they were cool and added a bit of history and other views of the site, that we did not get to experience.. We hope you enjoy all this!
http://decidedlygrim.net/forlorn/?p=428
Stay tuned as we are starting to do more videos to our youtube! TY FOR PLAYING ALONG
