TCAAP

Earlier this summer I was having a conversation with a photographer friend of mine. He also likes to shoot abandoned buildings. The subject of the abandoned ammo factory in arden hills came up. He had recently been there to shoot. I have been wanting to go there for a long time. I’ve never been able to find a way in. We made plans to go there the next week. What happened was I found my favorite place to shoot so far. I’m sure I will feel the same way about the next great location too LOL. First of all it’s huge. I have been out there 3 times in the last few months for a total of 10 hours. I still haven’t shot everything I want to yet.

One of the many Shower/locker rooms.

One of the many Shower/locker rooms.

I always wonder about what the abandoned places I shoot looked like when they were still in motion. Hundreds of people worked in this building everyday. I wonder what it looked like then?

Another part of a locker room with the ceiling collapsed.

Another part of a locker room with the ceiling collapsed.

A stairwell to get to the roof.

A stairwell to get to the roof.

The kind of iffy roof.

The kind of iffy roof.

One of the parts of this complex that I loved the most was the lunch room. It has this huge bank of windows. Theres even the remnants of the service counter and dish pit.

The entrance to the lunch room.

The entrance to the lunch room.

What a nice place to have my lunch!

What a nice place to have my lunch!

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Don’t worry, that’s just the aliens landing behind the building.

Don’t worry, that’s just the aliens landing behind the building.

I wonder if that thing still works…

I wonder if that thing still works…

Another thing I love about this place is all of the beautiful graffiti. There’s a lot of bad graffiti her but there’s a ton that’s really good. I suppose you would come out here in the middle of a field so you could take your time. I love it for the same reason.

Beaver

Beaver

Bernd.

Bernd.

I’m not sure who did this but it reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons.

I’m not sure who did this but it reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons.

Sorry. I can’t read that one.

Sorry. I can’t read that one.

Lot’s of stuff from UC out here.

Lot’s of stuff from UC out here.

There’s also the fact that this factory has been around since World War II. It totally has that 40’s military feel to it. The wooden louvered doors. The teal paint. Even the font for all the stencils they used to put info on doors and walls.

I think someone has some issues to work through.

I think someone has some issues to work through.

It almost has an Indiana Jones feel to it.

It almost has an Indiana Jones feel to it.

You’re a towel!

You’re a towel!

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There’s also just a whole buch of huge factory sized rooms. Huge HVAC units and heavy machinery mounts. Lots of cool light fixtures and Mechanical rooms. Other weird stuff too. I saw an altar of some kind. A bass guitar that had been set on fire. A random stack of TV’s. A sculpture and some skateboard launch ramps. It has been obvious to me that there are people who come through here on a regular basis. I have yet to run into anyone though.

It must have been loud in there to have all that acoustic tile on the ceiling.

It must have been loud in there to have all that acoustic tile on the ceiling.

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Rays of light.

Rays of light.

Crazy awesome art in here.

Crazy awesome art in here.

once again. I wonder what this used to do.

once again. I wonder what this used to do.

Pigeon apartments.

Pigeon apartments.

All of that stuff on the floor is pigeon crap…

All of that stuff on the floor is pigeon crap…

Outside was cool too. It’s crazy to think that what’s left out here is just a handful of the 200+ buildings that were on this site when it was operational. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to come out here. I would have loved to have been able to get into some of the bigger buildnings.

midwest!!!

midwest!!!

I love this contrast between graffiti and wildflowers.

I love this contrast between graffiti and wildflowers.

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Shock..ing.

Shock..ing.

the outdoor tunnels were cool too!

the outdoor tunnels were cool too!

What I ended up loving the most. All of the close up detail shots from just walking around this place.

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a filter of some kind maybe?

a filter of some kind maybe?

cute little guy.

cute little guy.

damn litterbugs…

damn litterbugs…

These storage cabinets were every 20 feet or so. they had doors on both sides of the wall. kinda cool.

These storage cabinets were every 20 feet or so. they had doors on both sides of the wall. kinda cool.

No jumping…

No jumping…

I feel like this is a really long blog post with way too many photos. I will finish up by saying that I am very happy to have found this place. I will continue to come here to shoot until they tear it down. I feel like I will always be able to find something new and interesting here. I highly suggest doing some research on this place. It has a cool history spanning many decades and many wars. You will find a slideshow below if you are interested in seeing all of my best shots from the three trips I’ve made out here. Thank you for reading my blog. please feel free to share it if you liked it. Phil.