Gary Style

Last Sunday meant more exploring in Gary. Don and Jenn went to see Graceland Cemetery, which sounded cool. Several famous architects are buried there. But Matt had never been to Gary and seen my other ruins hangout. That, and there was a Chicagoland UE meet planned for the day. So off we went.



The drive to Gary was ok, well the traffic anyway. I am starting to suspect that Matt and I have very different political beliefs/world views, ha ha. Yeah, um do you even know what fascism is/means? Joining the military to “get a bunch of metals”? Foolish, foolish Matt, hope you like the Middle East, ugh. Well, we do agree on the coolness of ruins, which was the purpose of the day, not discussing his increasing right-wing zaniness or women problems, so it was all good.



We met at the usual spot. Dev and KTown were there, along with some new people. Since it was Sunday, the best place to start was City Methodist. I had just been here, but it is always good to be at City Methodist. Two weeks of church in a row, I am doing good, ha ha. Matt quickly wandered off to see the whole building while the rest of us hit up the key places. I promptly made for my balcony perch. Didn’t take too many photos. That is ok, have plenty (ha!), there was conversation to be made, and the lighting wasn’t up to my standards.



We followed up City Methodist with the Sheridan. The Gary Sheridan is a 14-story, 135 room hotel that opened in 1978. It was built as part of an effort to revitalize downtown, replacing the 1920s Hotel Gary that had closed in 1971, as well as the Holiday Inn that had just recently shuttered after a lengthy 6-year run. The new Sheridan advertised itself as “The best place for a taste of the 80s today!” And that it would remain. It closed by 1985, the property with a negative value and the empty building a monument to bad investment.



Since closing the white concrete hulk has had little use besides as a billboard proclaiming “Gary Style”. How fitting that was. I’ve explored it before, several years ago. All of my photos are either Kodachromes or black and whites, which means no one but me has seen em. Well, here is a new batch for you good folks.



We started with the roof, which offers an amazing view of the sprawling steel mill that built the city. Turning around you are faced with a wasteland of ruins and vacant lots. Ah, Gary, an industrial nightmare, beautiful! The guest floors are largely identical. The only discernable differences are the wallpapers used. The rooms are the same size as those found in older hotels, but made of cheaper materials. Each room offers a balcony, half of which offer a view of the lovely Skyway with a bonus of downshifting semis.



KTown took the others out to see some of the usual stuff, Memorial Auditorium and the Post Office. I’ve seen enough of those. Dev and I remained behind at the hotel to do a floor-by-floor photographic sweep, so that we wouldn’t feel bad if we never came back.



The hotel doesn’t get interesting until the third floor. At that level there is a patio with an outdoor pool. One also finds the glass tube bridge across Broadway. This was conceived to connect the hotel to the convention center. However, it leads nowhere, except to a locked door and a staircase.



The lobby, lame-ass meeting rooms, and restaurant are located on the mezzanine and the ground floor. Um, a far cry from the Durant I must say. I really hope that the décor played some role in the hotel’s demise. Otherwise, my high opinion of the 80s would be somewhat tarnished.



Upon exiting we met up with the others, who had just finished at the Post Office, and then headed to the Parry-Shaw apartments. We took a quick tour of that before heading to the Goodwill building next door to show them the giant heap of moldy cloths. Following Goodwill, it was proposed to head to the Gary Bolt Works, a massive factory in the hoods that also has giant heaps of moldy cloths. I was certainly up for that, I hadn’t been there in a while. Dev had to break off at that point, but the rest of us caravanned to the factory.



I really have no idea how Dev ever discovered this place. It is completely hidden from everything else. Once on the grounds, all you can see is factory and trees. It is a series of connected buildings, mostly large steel structures. I see a lot of Kahnesque reinforced concrete factories, so a sprawling steel one is nice from time to time. David senses a return to Ingersol-Rand in his near future...



I don’t know why, but for some reason parts of the bolt works remind me of Carbo-Sil and other parts remind me of Armour. The three really are not that alike, so I’ll just chalk it up to asbestos on the brain.



The front of the building is a two-story office that is rather trashed. There are some nice light fixtures though. From there you enter the factory floor which is a series of massive halls of structural steel posts and trusses. The first open area doesn’t have much besides the lovely structure, puddles, and moss. The floor is also covered with some white fluffy stuff. Um, that is good...



Past that space there is a narrow, multi-story concrete section with large bath and locker rooms and a bridge connection to a smaller reinforced concrete building. The far end of the plant is similar to the first area, but has massive heaps of moldy cloths and an abandoned forklift.



The surrounding grounds are heavily overgrown, the rest of the city a world away, and littered with ruined small outbuildings. All in all it is a neat complex. Now that I know a good place to park, I’ll be returning more often. I think a visit to the cement plant is also in order for my next trip, he he.



That concluded the day’s fun in Gary. Daylight was near an end and it was starting to rain. Matt and I returned to my sister’s before he headed back to Detroit. I stayed another night before returning to Indy “bright” and early on Monday, nothing like blasting down the Dan Ryan at 3:00 in the morning.



And thus ended the Chicago birthday 06 fun. I got two cards from the dentist this year, ha ha. The MSHP card was much better. Amy and Ryan got me some black shirt. rock. But damn, now I don’t have anything else on the horizon to look forward too. Time to start planning new trips methinks. The next couple of weekends, meh. This weekend I will be bringing furniture down to the new apartment, oh boy! Well, good to make the place feel like a home. Might check out a local ruin on Saturday, either that or hang out with Fred. We shall see. Mayhaps Studebaker foundry the following weekend? Haven’t been to Detroit since the big one, but all the stuff I feel like going to (MCS, Fort-Shelby, Continental, etc) my cohorts are bored with. Whee, solo!



Hmm, what else is going on? Feels odd just getting settled into a new job and apartment but I am already starting to look to what comes next. One month down, five to go. There is a job in Buffalo Jenn told me about that would open up right about when I’m done here. First such posting I’ve seen in one of my top-pick cities. Question is, am I that lucky? I can hope. I also told Amy that if she found me a job in Chicago I would pay for part of her and Ryan's new mortgage, ha ha. I initially didn’t like the neighborhood that they are moving into. That is where she lived when she first moved into Chicago 8-9 years ago, huge ghetto in the middle of the projects. But it sure has changed. $11 martinis aside, I was impressed when we walked around with Andrea. Anyho, dusting off the resume and keeping an eye on HP job sites again, yip yip.



I guess I am going to the National Trust Conference in Pittsburgh. I was initially told that there wasn’t money for me to go and hell no I wasn’t going to pay for it myself (sooo expensive). But now there is money so I am going. I just can’t go to any of the fun sessions that cost extra. Oh well, I haven’t been to Pittsburgh before so I’m looking forward to that. Don always spoke highly of it, but then Jenn is from there so... But yeah, network and check out the town.



Had a dream last night that I finally found my copy of Quake and was so happy. I played it for hours. Damn dreams toying with me. Um, that is about it for this installment.