The basement of a 1920's school

[PumpkinStalker]

So they're trying to re-open Hale Cook in Waldo, and I was helping fix it up for a neighborhood open house.  Long story short, got plenty of chances to rummage around the building.  Pretty neat place.

































These old bottles were INSIDE the boiler hatch.






I think this room was where they dumped the coal into.  It had a big iron hatch in the roof which was level with the ground outside.

[Roanoker]

It makes the work needed on your house seem like a piece of cake. 

[PumpkinStalker]

I know, right?

[LenexatoKCMO]

Yeah but I bet you wish you had that bird diarama for your mantle. 

[PumpkinStalker]

Indeed!  That particular room in the basement had no light that I could find.  So I had my makita flashlight that runs on my drill batteries (HELLA bright) and I was looking around and my light landed right on the birds, it was a bit creepy!

Awesome basement though, especially the 20 foot tall boilers.  Was a bit puzzeled at the room that had a bed with sheets, and 1960s green chair, and a 1950s refrigerator.  That room also had the stuffed animal tucked into the elbow of the pipes pictured above.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Was a bit puzzeled at the room that had a bed with sheets, and 1960s green chair, and a 1950s refrigerator.  That room also had the stuffed animal tucked into the elbow of the pipes pictured above.

Perhaps with the old fashioned coal boiler they had to keep someone there round the clock to keep it stoked?

[droopy]

Was a bit puzzeled at the room that had a bed with sheets, and 1960s green chair, and a 1950s refrigerator.  That room also had the stuffed animal tucked into the elbow of the pipes pictured above.

It struck me as someones active bedroom from your pictures, did it seem more abandoned in person?  I'm thinking homeless person, not boiler room operator.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.  I love that building and always hope for a successful rebirth of it.

[PumpkinStalker]

Perhaps with the old fashioned coal boiler they had to keep someone there round the clock to keep it stoked?

Thinking you're probably right.  It's only been close 1-2 years.  It was open when I bought my house.  The fridge didn't look like it worked, and I'm guessing from the dust the bed hasn't been used in a very long time as well.  Don't think it was a homeless person. 

The basement was 2 stories below ground in some areas, 1 in others.  The old bottle in the boiler was probably a 1970s/80s Budweiser bottle.

[loftguy]

Holy Batcave, Pumpkin!

This looks remarkably close to what Riverbend Condos looked, prior to renovation to lofts.  It had massive twin Kewanee boilers and the place was stewn with a mix of ancient household stuffs, and leftover biz equipment from the Volker company.

In its operational day there was a boilerkeeper who lived adjoining the furnaces and kept it all going.

[IraGlacialis]

Cool boiler(?).
The birds in the box seem a bit on the creepy side.

[mlind]

Great pictures.  It's always interesting to see what was left behind.