curious find

[gunc0r3]

unfortunately, the site i'm about to describe is no longer in existence, but i've been searching around here & there for 3 or so years trying to figure out just what it was.

originally, i thought it was winoka, as it is some what near that site, but it's actually on the opposite side of the big lake bridge. here's some directions, from spfld.

take fremont ave. south past republic road. eventually, the road will end, and you may only turn left or right onto some road (sorry don't remember the name, but you can't miss it... going right takes you to a stoplight at s. national near ironwood estates & family video.) for our adventure, you need to go LEFT on this road. it curves up ahead and takes you to the big bridge over lake springfield near the power plant. right *before* you cross the bridge, however, is a road that turns to the right and goes up the hill. i believe there is now a sign declaring the area as "such and such estates." the houses here are noticeably extravagant.

unfortunately, as i said, the site no longer exists. only the new homes are there now, but at the top of the hill, there once stood what appeared to be some sort of abandoned camp (the reason i thought it was winoka.) there were five or six buildings, all totally abandoned, totally empty, totally nothing. some of them were barely standing. the peculiar part, was at the back of the site (west end.) there was a larger, long red building filled with interesting stuff. the first peculiarity i noticed was the gutted macintosh computer sitting outside. circa 84 style! we went in. the first room was filled with old bank statements & documents, littering the room. the remainder of the rooms were filled with various old school office machines (faxes, photocopiers, etc) and a truckload of old science textbooks & lab equipment (nothing particularly hardcore; the texts appeared to be high school level-ish, as did most of the equipment.) the real treasure, to me anyway, was in the final room inside that we visisted. much larger than the rest. more lab gear... and the decaying remains of an ibm system 400 mainframe. old school!

behind the red building was a fence, and i think, a pool, though we didn't investigate much back there.

it's a big time bummer that this place is gone. it was so cool and so bizarre. and no one i've ever talked to has any idea about it.

//j

p.s. awesome site you have here. love the pictures!

[darkcloud617]

that sucks that it is gone now- that would of been awesome to explore now

[greekspeak]

I am not seeing in my mind exactly where you are talking about...is this right before you go over the dam that make Lake Springfield a lake? Is that what you mean by the bridge? I have always wondered what was on the land there, on the left side of that road. I think it is called Kissick Avenue, the road off which you turn to go to your "camp" or whatever it is. What I am curious about is that there was once a town north of the river from the plant. THis is not to be confused with Kissick, which is UNDER the powerplant. This town was called, I think, Dickenson. I am wondering if those buildings have a connection to this particular defunct town.

[Jab-Giltone]

sounds like it was a sweet place
i hope you find one thats still in existance!!

[Willard]

Ok, I knew that this place had been mentioned before and I just found the link. You can read all about it here:

Sheltering Heights Camp

[David Keetz]

are we talking about the road with the two stone pillars right before you get to the power plant?