Whittier, Pt. 2a: The Buckner Building

Here is a special Halloween bonus set of pictures from the Buckner Building -- the creepy abandoned building in Whittier. Remember that this thing is full of toxins including asbestos and lead paint, all of which continues to decay and decay and rot and blow around in the rooms so not only are you trespassing, you are risking long term health issues with extended exploration. Further, in some of the pictures you can see calcium deposits leeching from the beams and growing in the form of stalactites. Please note that as water seeps into the cracks in the beans and freezes it expands, weakening the structure. It was rightly pointed out that one modest earthquake could send major portions of the building toppling down.



Regardless, the amount of graffiti and man-made destruction is what you would expect for a building of this type and upkeep. There are no panes of glass in the window frames and the arctic winds cause what few doors are left to smash against their frames. The floors are icy and fallen beams and electrical systems lay on the ground with nails and wires sticking straight up; wear thick soles and walk gingerly. Because of the cold it was a challenge to keep my viewfinder from fogging up -- breath control did little good as the heat from my face caused condensation to develop.



I went by myself at first -- not recommended -- and made a plan to stick to the areas where a source of daylight was within ten feet. The decision was mostly practical as I had no flash on me and no flashlight to guide me. This limited me to the western side of the building and use of the rickety external stairs -- also not recommended. It must be said, however, that with the Buckner being the tallest thing in the area the views are lovely and unobstructed.

Whittier, Pt.1

The drive to Whittier is comically beautiful with mountains so rugged it's as if they have been shaped out of the rock with a hatchet. The coastline is silty and the ocean is shallow and in some spots very still. So still that one can imagine no tidal influence. The runoff from melting ice and snow rushes down the sides of the mountains and into the sea.



Whittier is behind the mountains and is served by a one way tunnel that was, until ten years ago, accessible by rail only. You would pay a fee for the vehicle and a per-person fee and you would be taken two miles through the tunnel to the city of Whittier on the other side. Today, the tunnel is just wide enough to fit passenger vehicles and entry and exit times are scheduled hourly.





For those of you who knew I was making this trip, I may have overstated the status of Whittier (a bit).

The Lie:

Everyone lives in this big creepy building -- it's the first one you see when you GIS "Whittier, AK."



The Truth:

1) Not EVERYONE lives in the Begich Towers building. Only 80%. The rest live in Whittier Manor or in surrounding small buildings.



2) The BTI is NOT the creepy decayed building that one sees when Google Image Searching. That is the Buckner Building which was built to house soldiers and has a movie theater and a bowling alley and an amount of asbestos so large that cleaning and refurbishing the building is not cost effective. In fact, the cleanup needed to facilitate a teardown is so much that the building just sits and rots in plain view. The effect is much like the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea -- a grotesque specter looming over the landscape.



Whittier was created during WWII to act as a port to ship goods from the lower 48 states to Alaska. The same is true today -- most of the freight that comes into the state of Alaska is sent in through Whittier and people make good money loading crates on to rail cars when the ships come in.



Cruise ships also stop over in Whittier and there is talk of expanding Whittier's industry to be more supportive tourism.

Help Me, Alex. Help Me Help You

I'm going to invent the genre of "Classic Punk" to occupy the same niche as "Classic Rock," as in 'we've come to change the future of Classic Punk forever,' or 'they sound very Classic Punk.' They'll hate me for it, but I want to think Consumer Feedback lives in that space.

Further,

Dear Knitting Factory,

Why come you don't turn no lights on for the afternoon shows? I know the lights exist physically -- I can see them with my naked eye and I've seen them turned on in the past. Are you saving that much money? Are you comfortable with your lack of effort? Is there an image of slapdash fuck-it-all-ness you're trying to maintain? Are they broken? For God's sake don't try to make things look cool -- that would break my heart.

Sincerely,

Richard Gin

P.S. I look forward to you moving to the current Luna Lounge space and somehow managing to make the lighting worse. See you next year!