The Broken Tower
Peering out over a small town, from
within a thin wood-line which was once a manicured front lawn, sits
the broken and battered remains of an old hotel. When it first opened
in 1927 none could have ever imagined the state which the once
well-appointed resort would eventually decay to. During its prime
this place operated for several decades servicing patrons of the
town's then-famous bath houses. Though once tremendously popular,
these baths eventually fell to the wayside, and this hotel followed
suit. Now the tower is home to nothing, save it's slowly twisting
corridors and the pitch black shadows which conceal them.
Though we visited this place in the
early spring, it was as if winter's grasp had yet to vacate the
hotel's interior. As you step from the daylight into the darkness
which clings to this place, you hit a wall of cold air far more
suited to the dank recesses of some subterranean cavern than a hotel
lobby. That being said - It comes as little surprise that the walls
and ceilings of this weathered place have begun to reflect just that.
Much of the building's structural wood has come to be exposed, as the
ornate facades wither, die, and fall away. This wood, which supports
the five stories that make this hotel, is water-stained to a dark
brown, giving the impression of being perpetually wet... which it
very well may be.
This excessive moisture has buckled and bowed the old hotel from top to bottom. Within its walls one would be very hard-pressed to find a single level surface. The effect is dizzying at times, as opposite walls pull away from each-other your sense of balance often comes into question. The wings of this hotel are slowly sinking, and each in a different direction. The roofing is taunt from the stress of holding all these decaying parts together, and has begun to tear in places, allowing even more water easy access to its already saturated framework. At one point while filming we were interrupted by a low and pronounced gurgling sound coming from directly overhead. Somewhere above us, beyond the blackened ceiling, the hotel was literally coming apart at the seams.
*It should be noted that every photo in this set was captured with the camera 100% level.
All visible slanting is the result of failing building supports.
Time and rain has made the building's ornate metal ceiling into an obstetrical course of jagged hanging blades.
