Urban Exploring (UE) is a secretive hobby growing more and more across the world, offering its enthusiasts a glimpse into worlds forgotten, abandoned and mysterious. The risk factors are many, but Urban Explorer Bentley Little with the UE group, “Church of Atom,” says the sights and experiences are worth the risks.
UE involves going into abandoned buildings and locations that are off limits. It also includes everything from climbing construction cranes, going through water or sewer drains (draining), or getting on the roofs of buildings (roof topping). Little says everyone has their own preferences of how they UE according to what they are comfortable with, but he only does abandoned building exploring. Little began UE when he was a very young child, when there wasn’t even a name for the hobby. He initially became interested in the idea because of the movie “Ghostbusters II” and the parts of the film based around an abandoned subway station, which fascinated him.
“The fact there is something as big as a subway line and station that had been forgotten and discarded by the rest of society, and the fact that these buildings are forgotten, that people at some point had a large connection to, appeals to me,” he says.
One of his favorite locations is the Six Flags Amusement Park in New Orleans that has been abandoned since hurricane Katrina hit. “It’s so spooky going through a place that once had thousands of people a day there [and] now has no one. Someone once described it as “creepy nostalgia,” which I think is a pretty accurate description,” he says. When asked about the legality of UE, attorney Lee Davis from Davis & Hoss, PC says vandalism and criminal trespass are Class A misdemeanors and carry up to 11 months and 29 days jail time, plus court costs. A conviction also stays on your record permanently.
Davis says, “While seemingly innocent, this activity could lead to civil (read monetary) damages as well. For example, a historic vacant building that is opened by these folks could expose the building to water damage. This could be quite costly.”
He says obviously there are other perils present, from exposed electric wires, open floors, weak walls and ceilings. “This kind of activity comes at a pretty high potential down side, criminal and civil,” Davis says.
Little agrees that sneaking into buildings is illegal, and the seriousness of the charge depends on the location and the activity of the urban explorer. “[In] one state, if you get caught, they just ask you to leave. In another state, if you are caught, at night, it’s a felony,” he says. “It also depends on how you got into the place. If you just went in through an open door or hole in the wall or whatever, then it’s not that big of a deal. If you break in, then it’s a much bigger deal, both legally and within this community [of urban explorers].”
Little says the UE group he and a friend started, “The Church of Atom,” is in the business of preserving history, not destroying it. They pride themselves on never forcing their way into buildings or vandalizing them. The name Church of Atom is from the videogame “Fallout 3,” which almost mirrors UE activities.
Little says the goal of the group was to try and explore all the abandoned military bases, but then they remembered they loved to explore everything, and expanded their searches for new exploration sites. Their goal is to try to get together and do some road trips to see the best this country, and hopefully at some point, what the world has to offer, Little says. If explorers don’t know the precautions to take or listen to their instincts, this hobby can be dangerous like everything else, he explains. This danger increases when explorers go out on their own without others to watch out for them. He says even this too becomes difficult to do when photographers accompany the exploration and the location is so interesting the group gets caught up in the pictures and pays less attention to where they are stepping.
Little says he is willing to assume the risks of UE because a lot of places he has explored don’t see the value in protecting their history. When he lived in Charlotte, N.C., there was almost nothing to explore because they tore everything down, he says.
“It was so odd for me to see that because here in Chatta-nooga, we prefer to preserve places. We enjoy our history much more than some places,” he says. Little recommends the South Pittsburgh Hospital as an interesting and legal place for people to get started in UE. A group of local paranormal investigators rent the location out for guests to go through their “abandoned” property.
“It’s pretty cheap, fairly safe, and very interesting. The best part about it is that you get to see if this is something you would like to do without fear of being arrested or running into squatters,” he says.
Every explorer has different ideas on what the essentials are to bring when exploring, but Little says he always brings a flashlight and enclosed shoes. Others bring respirators, steel toes boots, climbing ropes and more. Little says he tries to keep the gear fairly simple, and most the locations he has been to have not required anything extra. Others, though, have left him coughing for weeks and regretting not bringing something.
“To decide what you need to bring, scout the location,” he says. “Go there and do a quick run through of the place. See if there are signs of people living there, drug use, black mold, asbestos, etc. Then you will have an idea of how safe it is and what you should bring.” Little says people can start UE by simply going out there and doing it, but to make sure they are safe and not do anything foolish.
The Church of Atom Web site is www.churchofatom.tumblr.com where examples of exploring trips and more information about the group can be found.