The Abandoned: Where the Children Play

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Where the Children Play

The Abandoned Mega Church has many interesting rooms where the children and artists play. Above is one of them.

Clytie and I walked over to view the newest artwork in the main auditorium--I've displayed these photos the best I could, below--I apologize there are so many!

Together these letters spell out, "Live the Dream."

Here is the entire wall as we saw it that day.

NOTE: If you intend to visit The Abandoned, you will need to have permission from the owners. Without permission, you may be arrested for trespass.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: It is a shame, really, to have artists doing things like this and not be recognized for their work. Which is, I think, some is very good.; June 22, 2010 at 4:16 PM

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The Abandoned

Years ago, I dedicated this blog to The Abandoned, a huge complex of abandoned buildings in rural Oregon.

Surrounded by wetlands and old growth timber, The Callahan Center was built in the 1970's by the State of Oregon as a rehabilitation center for people recovering from injuries on the job.

In 1992, the property was bought by a mega church. However, the Living Enrichment Center closed in 2004, amidst financial scandal and the property was abandoned.

The buildings stood empty for many years. Over that span the property was vandalized and looted. Yet the beauty of its rare architecture shone through the shambles of abuse and disrepair.

In the summer of 2013, the complex was completely demolished. We were all sad to see the buildings go, but because of trespassers and vandals, it was necessary to take them down.

The area where The Abandoned once stood is filled with $500,000 mushroom houses (homes built so fast they pop up like mushrooms) built on postage stamp lots. There are sidewalks and tall lamps where I once watched the foxes of the field leaping above the grass, hunting rodents.

The surrounding woodlands still survive. It is my prayer the wetlands and forests with their pristine creeks, native trees and flowers, as well as the wildlife which shelter there, will be protected.