A single office chair sits at the entrance of an abandoned basement office room with natural sunlight from windows. Walls, columns and roof have peeling paint, and office desks are lined up against the wall.

The Basement Office Apr 11, 2006

Must be the IT department…

This was taken in the basement of one of the buildings at the Muskoka Regional Centre in Gravenhurst, Ontario. Original construction began in 1897 and the facility closed in 1994.

This past weekend, Andrew, Jon, Chris and I had a visit. The facility — abandoned and in a state of serious decay — was currently being used for police training exercises. The Whitby Psychiatric Facility had also been used in that way, so knowing this beforehand didn't make me concerned.

However, learning that one of the buildings housed a number of police dogs was concerning. Their barks could be heard across the site. That alone made this visit just a little less relaxing than normal.