Comments

Oh boy, a new gallery. A wonderful way to start a new month.

Wonder why so many copies of the California Achievement Test would be found in a school in Alabama.

Thanks! Great shot and you have a great eye for capturing these sites.

Sorry to double post, I was also thinking of the bad storms up to this point during winter. She is tough though.

Oh yes Sir, very good pics of what is going on, and your photos are great. The urbex videos show the inside of the theater and the windows. The windows in the structure below the upper level hallway to the dorms have the windows I think are in the urban explorer videos. I could well be mistaken. Our favorite abdonment is very complicated. Thank You!

Very interesting …thanks!

man i can remember the frist times i whant in there and saw some weerd shit it was like being around a lot od dead people some of the rooms gave me the creaps and some times i would walk into a room n the hair on my neck would stand up

i don't know where the theatre is but the front is where the collapse is- i walked from right to left around the buildings - i now still no help but a good pic of what's going on

Wanderer, thanks again for posting! It is a tad confusing. If we could use Mr. Motts picture labeled "Front" as a reference point, would the theater be to the left under the upper story hallway going to the dorms? I wish someone could point out what is where. The building itself makes me disoriented. Thanks everyone.

Ah, yes it would be - this particular building is quite different than the one displayed in the first half of this gallery. I'm not sure of the closure date, but I'd guess it was only a few years or so until these photos were taken. Sorry for the confusion!

Think I'll choose left.

Yes but if that's the case, then having a light here and there remain lit after the building is shuttered for 53 years is rather creepy. One would assume all bulbs would be non working.

wanderer I linked the west wing side of both my minecraft creation and your photo. This is the west wing, with the three chimneys on the side.

I grew up in the housing tract next to Rancho, when the hospital was still in use. I have never been inside of the buildings, but I did ride my bike all over the property in the 70's. In the early 80's, I practiced for my driving test with my Dad there. Thanks for showing me the inside. Seems like the people who go there now think it was Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, and the place seems overrun with ghost chasers. It's sad. During the day, the Downey PD and also LA County Sheriff's Dept use parts of the property for urban guerrilla training exercises.

The hospital has a rich history as a polio rehabilitation hospital. An ex-patient wrote a book about his life with polio, and now serves on the board of The Amigos Fund of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center.
http://www.amazon.com/...words=not+just+polio

I don't think it matters much; these institutions are usually so large they operate like small towns. They have their own power plant - burning coal, oil or gas that generates electricity and steam in massive furnaces. There's probably so much excess, that shutting off a few lights or repairing a leaking steam main simply doesn't make a difference.