Okay, so I went to this party that was held by a next-door neighbor of mine here in downtown Dallas. His place is pretty cool, but what made it even more interesting was that his balcony was attached to another building that had been abandoned for many, many years. Anyone who knows me knows I have an obsession with old abandon buildings here in downtown Dallas, so I couldn’t resist. Eventually I was able to pry the old windows open that led inside the old building. I climbed through…

The inside was massive; one huge floor with high ceilings and giant windows that looked out over onto the street. In one corner was a curious hand-sculpted statue of a woman’s legs. The top had been broken off, but with the aid of a flashlight, I did find her sculpted breasts. Our party’s host decided to keep this part, but it was extremely heavy. I suspect it was carved out of limestone. After shining the flashlight around the giant floor, I found something even more fascinating: a staircase that led up. I climbed it.

At the end of the staircase was a small room off to the right side. It had a toilet and sink, both bone dry and painted pink. Then there was a door that had the letters “Children’s apparel” painted on it. The third floor of this building was also huge. Against one wall, we found large wooden planks that had paintings on them. They were all for a restaurant called Bo’s Soul Food. A menu was painted on these boards.

I walked around the floor and found a mysterious ladder that led up. Without hesitation, I climbed it. At the top I found a narrow ledge and a large steel door that led presumably to the roof. I noticed that the door had wires connecting to it, which I suspected led to some kind of security system. Upon further inspection with the flashlight, I then noticed at the wires didn’t really lead to anywhere. I kicked the door, hoping to gain access to the roof. No dice. Someone had put a very large padlock on the door, but the entire thing was very brown...

Okay, so I went to this party that was held by a next-door neighbor of mine here in downtown Dallas. His place is pretty cool, but what made it even more interesting was that his balcony was attached to another building that had been abandoned for many, many years. Anyone who knows me knows I have an obsession with old abandon buildings here in downtown Dallas, so I couldn’t resist. Eventually I was able to pry the old windows open that led inside the old building. I climbed through…

The inside was massive; one huge floor with high ceilings and giant windows that looked out over onto the street. In one corner was a curious hand-sculpted statue of a woman’s legs. The top had been broken off, but with the aid of a flashlight, I did find her sculpted breasts. Our party’s host decided to keep this part, but it was extremely heavy. I suspect it was carved out of limestone. After shining the flashlight around the giant floor, I found something even more fascinating: a staircase that led up. I climbed it.

At the end of the staircase was a small room off to the right side. It had a toilet and sink, both bone dry and painted pink. Then there was a door that had the letters “Children’s apparel” painted on it. The third floor of this building was also huge. Against one wall, we found large wooden planks that had paintings on them. They were all for a restaurant called Bo’s Soul Food. A menu was painted on these boards.

I walked around the floor and found a mysterious ladder that led up. Without hesitation, I climbed it. At the top I found a narrow ledge and a large steel door that led presumably to the roof. I noticed that the door had wires connecting to it, which I suspected led to some kind of security system. Upon further inspection with the flashlight, I then noticed at the wires didn’t really lead to anywhere. I kicked the door, hoping to gain access to the roof. No dice. Someone had put a very large padlock on the door, but the entire thing was very brown and rusty. I grabbed one of the metal bars on the door and tried to force it open, but the bar broke off in my hands. Talk about being rusted…

Climbing back down the latter, I continued to walk across the floor. Someone yelled at me to watch out, which forced me to notice that I was on the edge of a giant hole in the floor; a hole on the edge of a 20 foot drop that ended on a giant concrete floor. It kind of freaked me out. I didn’t realize I was so close to falling.

Anyway, back on the second floor, my friend Kelly and I found some mailboxes. We decided to take them as a souvenir. When I climbed back out of the window with my prize, I decided to open it and see what was inside. First there was an enveloped that contained many keys and screws. Then there was a sheet of paper that authorized the installation of the metal mailbox. The date on this form was labeled 10/13/80… before I was even born. Weird.

So basically, this party was the realization of my abandoned building obsession. I can’t wait to go in this building again. Maybe next time it will be during the day so I can see more.