|
|
June 11, 2006: It's been years. Come visit me on I can't believe this site still works.
February 19. 2004: I have received information by word of keyboard that the mechanical shop will be demolished soon. I imagine the fat cat Francis Smith is rolling in his pile of money, smiling, and sipping drinks. Must be great to have the kind of hook ups he does to be sold this complex for $1. It's rare to see buildings from the 30s still in existence today, soon it will be one building rarer. Also there are still four buildings there from the original build of the hospital dated 1929. They will also be demolished this year. Hopefully we will get to see some nice aluminum building take their places, or some extremely cheep housing that will not last nearly as long as these buildings did. Diversatech was formed to solve the economic problems that closing Manteno State Hospital created. As I see it building housing does not solve anything. There are a few businesses located on the campus but not nearly as many as there should be. Just to clear a few things up, I hate Smith. He has absolutely no people skills. Just e-mail him and you will see exactly what I am talking about. He's nothing but a bitter old man. His only defense of his policy of not letting anyone examine these buildings is "the vandalism started last year..." this was taken from a very rude e-mail he sent me in 2002. The vandalism actually started in 1984.
January 20, 2004: I forgot to actually post the last update, sorry. I do read everything in the forum and guest book. I know I don't reply to any of it I just don't have the energy anymore. Everything is so pointless anyway, I don't even find myself interested in exploring anymore. Sure I see these buildings all the time and I start thinking how much fun it was to get in them. Then its just like "was", it will never be like that again. Sure I could find someone to go check out these places with me but I know they will never be that interested. It just gets me down about it all. If anyone wants to talk to me on AIM or something its Satatic. Don't be offended if I am incapable of sustaining a conversation for over 5 minutes though. Its just not one of my strong point. Well I guess actually it is sense I have none to begin with.
November 9, 2003: Wow so today I decided to look at this site and to my surprise I have guest book entries and even forum entries! So anyway this whole IL-X thing is pretty stupid, I think I might change it to IL-Jeff or something that symbolizes that I am the only one here. After 2 years of being friends Brennen decided he was to much better then me to hang around me. He got the most perfect opportunity to ditch me forever, his parents moved to New Mexico and he moved in with one of his moms friends. July 17th I go over to his house and they are moving so I spend a long time over there helping my best friend pack up all his stuff and get it all loaded up. Then it was getting dark and my headlights were messed up so I had to get home. So he says he will call, but to this day I have never received one. Next day was my birthday too, I got the normal present that I usually receive from friends, pain. Well I got better friends now so I guess its all good. Sláinte!!
May 14, 2003: May 12, I (Jeff) explored an abandoned factory in Herrin Il. I have no idea what it was for, it was located on the corner of a golf course. Pictures are up in the pictures section of this website. There are a few abandoned houses that I saw along the main roads in this town to. Sláinte!!
February 13, 2003: On February 8 we made a trip to Bartonville Illinois. There was only about three and a half buildings left to explore. I say half because one building seemed to be missing its second floor and roof. The Bowen hospital building was still there but it is empty. It looks like when this place closed down in the 70s people came and striped the asbestos off the metallic pipes and stole them for scrap money. With the way the asbestos was removed I have no doubt that these people now suffer from cancer. Also the amount of asbestos in the building makes me think that when people bought the other buildings they removed the asbestos themselves and tossed it down in the basement of Bowen. The power plant is impossible to enter, the EPA sealed the building up with steel. The pictures we shot are all posted in the pictures section... Sláinte!!
December 27, 2002: A sad sad day for us, we thought they were just demolishing the power house. Turns out, they have demolished Freud, Dunne, and Brandon on the veterans property. So now all abandoned buildings that the veterans own have been demolished. By the way the state funds the veterans association, so you all paid for the removal of asbestos from the buildings and the demolition. Does anyone remember why they closed down the Joliet Penitentiary? Oh yeah, the state is so far in debt they had to save money... Wait a minute, if they need money why are they giving out this large sum of money to have these buildings demolished? Sláinte!!
December 17, 2002: Alright I think I got the pictures page working correctly. I had moved the picture files out of geocities to a different server, only I forgot to redo some of the links. That should be fixed by now, I still have four rolls of film that I have to get developed sometime of MSH and the once abandoned house near MSH. Sláinte!!
August 25, 2002: Hi. Sláinte!!
July 22, 2002: I have received information about the Arsenal in Joliet from a friend who attended the race at the Joliet racetrack last week. Upon looking at the place, no security was seen. Tall grass and weeds were abundant. Sounds like its just right to be explored. Sláinte!!
July 18, 2002: We have successfully entered the building labeled Brandon. The building is a high risk area, it is located on the veteran's side of the Manteno model. This building is two stories high with an attic and a basement, we found a document in the basement stating how a patient was hit... I will scan the document sometime, look for it on the artifacts page. We have no pictures as of yet because it was night time and we didn't plan on entering. Flashlights had to be used at minimum, we only explored the basement and first floor. We will go back to this model building during the day sometime. Sláinte!!
July, 2002: I can't really remember the date this happened, but we went to Bachelor's Grove cemetery in Midlothian Illinois. This was the biggest waste of time yet. The place is completely NOT haunted. According to the locals (teenagers), they have seen apparitions. In order to see them though, you must be drunk or high or both. Very creditable sources I might add. Sláinte!!
May 2, 2002: Went to the Manteno model today, seems that some one has had access to our model and boarded every opening on the buildings, finished our demolition of the building we call "singer", and blew up the abandoned car we placed behind the mechanical shop... I am not quite sure how someone was able to do this, must be a very clever person. Sláinte!!
May 1, 2002: Have not explored in a while, last place we went to was a Factory in Wilmington, Illinois. Easy to get to and even easier to get into. Cars drive past but no one seems to care, there is also a small train station across from it (Abandoned ), and some smaller buildings also abandoned. No pictures yet, but hopefully we will remember the film next time. Follow Route 102 into Wilmington, and the road will ride along the factory at a distance of about 10 feet. Sláinte!!
March 27, 2002: Jeff and I went into James ward and found that it was being remodeled at the time of the decommission of MSH. Some of the walls had been tore down for replacement walls and up-to-date items. Almost all of the doors in the ward were left unlocked and open. We went into the mech. shop (for the 10th time) and found a large detailed map of the entire campus on the wall. The map included uses of the buildings but someone ripped it all up and stole the pieces. Very little of the map remains on the wall. We found a bunch of artifacts and papers that some stupid dumbass burned thinking he was being funny. Sláinte!!