Arts & Entertainment

Urban Explorers

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By his recollection, Dave explored City Hospital about a dozen times (at about three hours apiece, the average length of one of his stays) before reconstruction began on it. For a number of reasons, he believes that City Hospital was "probably one of the most broken-into buildings St. Louis has ever had. It's a series of structures, and when they deserted it, they left all the old medical equipment and files inside, so there was just tons of stuff to explore." On one of his visits, Dave took a bunch of newborn-baby records. He still displays some of the pictures of the newborns in his house. "So people are like, 'Where'd you get this baby picture?' And I'm like, 'Off the floor of City Hospital.'"

Another reason Dave cites for City Hospital's popularity was that "you didn't have to break into it. You could just walk right in." Once, he encountered a homeless person squatting inside the building. Dave simply told him in an authoritative voice that he was there to do an asbestos check.

Obviously, as much fun as urban exploration might be, individuals need their own certain set of rules and precautions in order to make each expedition a safe and successful one.

Dave's number-one rule, as evidenced by his asbestos story, is to "go in with the confidence that I'm supposed to be there." Beyond that, he always carries a flashlight, a couple tools for making his way through dead bolts and jammed doors, and a cell phone. And he knows that patience pays off. "If you're trying to explore a place that's going to require a good degree of breaking-in, sometimes you have to go visit four or five times beforehand to figure out your strategy before you make an attempt."

Though Dave hasn't broken into a building for about six months, he still keeps a list in his head of new places he'd like to check out; the General Douglas MacArthur Bridge, the in-use railroad bridge spanning the Mississippi, has been on his mind lately. (Other destinations popular with local ubran explorers include the McKinley Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi from the north side; the Carondelet Coke plant at 526 East Catalan Street; and parts of the old Gaslight Square district on Olive Street near North Boyle Avenue, toward the north end of the Central West End.) He knows that, with so many reconstruction projects and loft-conversions happening around the city, it may become harder in the future to find buildings he can explore.

"At this point, I've gotten so brazen that I feel like it's my right to go into these places. On the other hand, the love of urban exploration is intrinsically tied into the desire for old buildings to be put into good use today and tomorrow. So in a way, I wish I couldn't break into any of these buildings at all."

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