I explored an abandoned workplace.

[Antisocial_Worker]

And you may view pictures of it here.

Appropriate theme music? Yes? No?

And most importantly... can you guess what sort of workplace this used to be? What did they do here?

[Parrothead]

1) awesome music!
2) some kind of factory/plant thing
3) why are there so many toilet pictures? And why the picture of the undies?

[MaggieTheCat]

Very cool pics, love them. I'm going to guess, someplace that makes sets/props/costumes for theatre productions? How did you get access to the building? I'd love to explore an old abandoned building like that...it would make a great scene for a mystery RPG like a Cthulhu setting or something.

ETA: The music fit nicely too.

[Antisocial_Worker]

1) awesome music!
2) some kind of factory/plant thing
3) why are there so many toilet pictures? And why the picture of the undies?

1 -- thank you
2 -- sort of, but not really...
3 -- they were there and it was interesting, not unlike that pretty little dress hung from the fuse box down near the boilers. Just some evidence that someone was staying there, probably. There have been problems with homeless sleeping there and with people breaking in to hold sex parties.

[Antisocial_Worker]

I'm going to guess, someplace that makes sets/props/costumes for theatre productions? How did you get access to the building? I'd love to explore an old abandoned building like that...

ETA: The music fit nicely too.

Thanks for your compliments!

It wasn't anyplace that made anything, actually, but good guess. Especially with the costumes part. My friend and I got access through someone who works for the building's owner. He has to go in every day to pump water into the sprinkler system in case the place catches fire. He let us in and gave us a tour while he was doing that.

[mattm04]

Very interesting. I was surprised to see that the electricity is still on, but then I see that it still has people in daily for the sprinklers.

[Antisocial_Worker]

I'm going to guess that it's an old church and the clothes are old pageant costumes?

Partly right... That gabled roof up on top is all that remains of a church built in 1847. That building was added onto and added onto repeatedly through the years until that scrap of roof was all that remained, as the rest was removed to make way for offices and hallways below.

[csquared]

One of the photos was of the "Fire Escape Plan". It mention several laundry areas and a couple of maintenance areas. The large engine with pulleys and the overhead pulley system would be used to drive light mechanical.

I am going to guess sewing shop/clothing manufacturer.

Second guess would be a laundry facility. You mentioned the church, and there is a church across the street. Possibly for an orphanage?

[Amina516]

Nice pictures.

I like the one of the wood where someone wrote in spanish "Pick up the trash".. Lol.

The one with the dress on the fuse box was kinda freakkkkky.

[fma_fanatic]

DDD says maybe some kind of manufacturing plant based on the one pic with the evacuation plans (he's looking at the pics over my shoulder).

How long has it been abandoned? It's kind of interesting seeing as it's obvious no one has been there for some time to care for the building. I'm a fan of Life After People.

[Antisocial_Worker]

Second guess would be a laundry facility. You mentioned the church, and there is a church across the street. Possibly for an orphanage?

Your second guess is correct. It was an industrial laundry. That church across the street now owns the building and uses it for nothing more important than storage. There were plans to tear down the building to make way for a parking lot but thankfully those plans are currently on hold. Hopefully someone will be willing to renovate the building... It's a piece of history.

How long has it been abandoned? It's kind of interesting seeing as it's obvious no one has been there for some time to care for the building. I'm a fan of Life After People.

If I remember correctly, the company located here moved out sometime in the early 90's. They're still in business elsewhere in the city though.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to look and comment! I really appreciate it.

[AccountingDrone]

I would guess that there are several phases of construction in the building. There is a mill section from the late 1800s, note the power take off drive units with very wide bands sort of twisted up out of the way? Then there is an early 20th century section, looks like about 1910-1920s [the diagonal board sections] then a 50s section with sporadic updating and change in use. Definitely has squatter/break in party problems. Oddly enough, though the owner probably resists the idea, the best use of the land would be to actually tear the poor place down. Buildings that are not maintained tend to get structurally unsound and end up costing way more than it is worth to renovate. There is a lot of brick and metal that could be salvaged and repurposed.

[Antisocial_Worker]

I would guess that there are several phases of construction in the building. There is a mill section from the late 1800s, note the power take off drive units with very wide bands sort of twisted up out of the way? Then there is an early 20th century section, looks like about 1910-1920s [the diagonal board sections] then a 50s section with sporadic updating and change in use. Definitely has squatter/break in party problems. Oddly enough, though the owner probably resists the idea, the best use of the land would be to actually tear the poor place down. Buildings that are not maintained tend to get structurally unsound and end up costing way more than it is worth to renovate. There is a lot of brick and metal that could be salvaged and repurposed.

You're forgetting the 1847 church building that was absorbed into the structure as it... metastasized, but other than that and a 1950's facade, you've pretty much nailed the various phases of construction to this building.

I resist the idea that it's too far gone to save because there are several buildings all over Asheville that were in worse shape and are now restored and gleaming and open for business again. At one point, downtown Asheville's vacancy rate was more than 90%, and several buildings had collapsed but for their facades. One such building, now restored as the Broadway Arts Building, even had a large tree growing out of its rubble, and the branches reached out through the empty window frames on the street side. Elsewhere downtown there was a large Victorian mansion that had developed a noticeable lean to the right... I heard the construction crew used a giant pneumatic jack to jack it up level again. Now it's an office building.

Asheville is a city that's very passionate about historic preservation, so I still hold out hope for a buyer and restorer.

[AccountingDrone]

All the brick and stone areas will need the mortar inspected and I can pretty much state it will need to be entirely repointed. Looking at the amount of paint and surfacing materials spalling off, there has been significant absorbtion of moisture into the walls, and just slapping another coat of stucco and paint on will not work - the moisture has to be driven out which means on the cheap side, a salamander of appropriate size in each space running full bore to heat the masonary body to a degree that the moisture is forced out. All the plumbing will need to be inspected, and lead abatement take place. I don't even want to think about the asbestos abatement or any other chemical abatement that will need to be done. Frequently the drives for the belt systems were built in place before the walls were put up, so you will have to leave them in situ or knock a wall out to remove them. Same with furnaces/boilers and tanks. I don't even want to think of any sort of biohazards resulting from people dumping trash, peeing and crapping around the building, dead animals, rats, bats and bugs.

I love old buildings as much as the next person. I have been absolutely drooling over a 1450 property in Germany I would absolutely kill to have the resources to buy and live in ... but sometimes you have to let go and tear down and rebuild. You could probably tear down and build anew for half what restoration of a space that nobody wants or needs would cost.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I'm a fan of Life After People.

I love that show.

You should check out a book called The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. It came out around the same time Life After People started (I think) but is not affiliated with the show (as far as I know).