Indianapolis, Indiana Catacomb Tours
To be offered beginning in June, the Indianapolis, Indiana Catacomb tours will take the public beneath City Market into mostly unknown catacombs that date to 1886. The cavernous walkways, featuring brick archways and columns of limestone, encompass more than 20,000 square feet and were part of Tomlinson Hall, a structure along Market Street that burned in 1958.
Having been mostly unused except for storage in recent years – and as an emergency homeless shelter during a winter storm of 1912, the tours will open up a part of the city that has been unseen by most, and spark some ideas on a future reuse for the catacombs. Suggestions for reuse include an underground park or nightclub, but a study conducted in the 1990s estimated a cost of more than $7 million just to bring the catacombs up to modern safety standards.
July 28: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was constructed between 1858 and 1881 in Weston, West Virginia, and is the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America. It is a Kirkbride, and housed 250 patients when it initially opened – peaking at 2,400 by the 1950s. The hospital closed in 1994 after suffering for years due to overcrowding and generally deteriorating conditions.
- But on July 28th, a special Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Tour for Photographers, by Abandoned will be held from 8 AM to 12 PM, and from 2 PM to 6 PM. It is an eight hour event to capture both morning and evening light.
- The price for the event is $190.50 per person.
- A minimum of 10 participants is required for this event.
- The ticket(s) are not refundable.
- A minimum of one ticket to a maximum of five tickets can be purchased per order.
- Registration ends on July 24 at 11:30 PM EST.
- The location of the event is 71 South Asylum Drive, Weston, West Virginia.
San Francisco, California Armory Tours
Constructed in 1914, the 220,000 square-foot armory hosted the National Guard until 1973 and then remained vacant for three decades. It was purchased in 2007 and then subsequently rehabilitated for adult film sets by Peter Acworth, owner of Kink.com.
The tour lasts 90 minutes and includes the armory’s five floors and includes both historical and risque trivia. The walk includes the preserved shooting range and the subterranean Mission Creek that flows through the basement. It also includes… a tour of a plush lounge and dungeon, along with props, and perhaps a peek at a live filming if it is in progress.