I will preface this by saying this place is ruined, and normally I wouldn't go all the way over to America for something as ruined. However the one deciding factor for me was outside - perfectly framed between the two huge grain elevators/silos is a stunning view of the downtown Chicago skyline. As for the rest of the site, it's actually quite photogenic in a ruined way.
There used to be a linking bridge between the silos but this was blown up for a stunt in, I believe, the last Transformers film. The bases of the silos were also painted black for that, but of course it has now been covered in graffiti. Lots, and lots, of graffiti. You can get to the tops of the silos but it requires some very sketchy rope climbs which I wanted no part in.
It was here I also had my first run-in with the American police whilst exploring. Our group of seven were just about to finish up and we were aiming to get a group shot of us with the view of the skyline in the background. This site is so easy to get into you can literally drive your car into it, and as we were getting the shot ready who should turn up but a police SUV. They were unamused by our presence and the officer said that they had already arrested a couple of people on site for trespassing just then (we weren't alone there were a few groups on site). So we made our apologies and went to leave. The officers followed us back to the non-existant gate in their SUV and that would have been that. However, remember how I said you could literally drive into the site? Well....we did. We had parked our two cars inside an old warehouse at the edge of the site, so the two drivers had to then explain to the officers why they were heading off a different way. We could see the officer visibly shake his head and we imagined he was thinking 'what a load of morons' and tutting to himself. Anyway they went to get their cars, and we waited outside the gate for them, and all was good. Moral of the story, when in America, try not to park inside the site you are exploring, however easy it is to do so.
I'm the one sat down. Because I didn't want to fall out of a second floor window on my first day LOL.
More here https://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/albums/72157659173256470
There used to be a linking bridge between the silos but this was blown up for a stunt in, I believe, the last Transformers film. The bases of the silos were also painted black for that, but of course it has now been covered in graffiti. Lots, and lots, of graffiti. You can get to the tops of the silos but it requires some very sketchy rope climbs which I wanted no part in.
It was here I also had my first run-in with the American police whilst exploring. Our group of seven were just about to finish up and we were aiming to get a group shot of us with the view of the skyline in the background. This site is so easy to get into you can literally drive your car into it, and as we were getting the shot ready who should turn up but a police SUV. They were unamused by our presence and the officer said that they had already arrested a couple of people on site for trespassing just then (we weren't alone there were a few groups on site). So we made our apologies and went to leave. The officers followed us back to the non-existant gate in their SUV and that would have been that. However, remember how I said you could literally drive into the site? Well....we did. We had parked our two cars inside an old warehouse at the edge of the site, so the two drivers had to then explain to the officers why they were heading off a different way. We could see the officer visibly shake his head and we imagined he was thinking 'what a load of morons' and tutting to himself. Anyway they went to get their cars, and we waited outside the gate for them, and all was good. Moral of the story, when in America, try not to park inside the site you are exploring, however easy it is to do so.
I'm the one sat down. Because I didn't want to fall out of a second floor window on my first day LOL.
More here https://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/albums/72157659173256470
