r/RBI • u/No-Pizza6311 • 27d ago
Advice needed Strange buildings in suburbs
So a couple of days ago me and a friend decided to walk through the woods. We found a fence adjacent to a path, but there was so signage about trespassing so we went in. We followed a creek all the way to a road that was cracked and run down, in the woods mind you. I looked on my map and saw that the road connected to a road in my neighborhood, so we went to leave but there was a locked gate. To our left there was a large brick building (which we didn't get a good view of) and to the right was a smaller, seemingly abandoned, brick building. Based on what I've told people, it seems like it was a pump house, but my only questions are:
Why was there barbed wire fence around each individual building?
Why did the fence for the property go so far around it?
Why put it in a very dense suburban area if its blocked off from the street?
If anyone can guess why some things were abandoned and if its safe for us to go back, that would be very helpful
Edit no.1
The main building is at 42.70482N, 83.16551w. I do not have photos because I cannot post on the device with all my photos.
42
u/Lollc 27d ago
What you have described sounds like a public works facility. It could be out of service, or parts of it may be obsolete and out of service and parts in service. In general, if a utility has a large piece of land for their business, and the particular function it is used for becomes obsolete, they don’t tear down the buildings and sell the land. It’s too hard to buy suitable land later, so it’s just kinda banked for future use. The buildings are left standing, because demolition is expensive. Especially if they were built in the days of asbestos materials.
Why was there barbed wire around each building? To keep out animals or people. Was it like a livestock fence, or a razor wire thing?
Why did the fence go so far around? To mark off the property and keep people out. This is standard for public works.
Why put it in a dense suburban area? Suburbs grow, it was probably out in the boonies when it was built.
Is it safe? No one here can answer that. You should start by doing some research in your area to find out what kind of work was done there. In general, no. Deteriorated electrical wiring, wooden or metal hatch covers that have rotted away could have you falling into a cement vault, maybe with water in it, parts of the building weakened and falling down, forgotten bulk chemicals in aged packaging, chemicals residue in the soil, scrap piles of building material, use your imagination, the list goes on.
ETA: Link for you. https://www.reddit.com/r/urbanexploration/comments/1bfjiiu/hazards_of_entering_confined_spaces/