Reaching the main lobby of the school. The two steps to the right are an interesting feature of the school, which will receive an explanation soon.
And the explanation comes here in the form of this drawing of the school. What I didn’t know when I started writing this post was, that the school has actually been expanded in the early 1980’s. The architects made such a good job with the expansion, that it is almost impossible to tell the difference between the original parts of the school and the expansion. You can’t tell it by looking at the external pictures from my previous visit.
But when comparing this drawing to old aerial photos, the difference is clear. The original part of the school is the long, vertical part along with the wing seen on the top. The horizontal part of the cross in the lower part of the drawing is the expansion.
And the stairs? They mark the junction between the two parts. They are externally almost the same, but also internally they have made the new lobby match the old one. Even the floor material and texture are the same.
When moving forward, I noticed one slight, telling difference. But we’ll get to that later.
Toilets in the lobby. It’s surprising to find intact toilets in an abandoned building.
The main entrance. Which surprisingly turns out to be a later addition to the original structure.
I’ve now walked the steps up to the old lobby of the school and am facing a dark stairway with an old handrail. But let’s not go there just yet.
A look forwards towards the second new wing with another entrance. The small section of the wall and the steps by it again indicate, where the old section ends and the new one starts. Also note, that the color of the mosaic concrete changes at that point.
A small, narrow room with a blackboard. I wonder what it has been used for.
The ground floor of the second new wing. This has been the school canteen.
Which is evident by the counter in the corner. That’s probably, where the dishes have been returned. The kitchen must be behind that wall.
A closer look at the counter. Let’s see, if the kitchen really is behind that door.
Oh yes, it is!
The kitchen really was there with all the equipment left.
With even the trays where dishes were returned remaining.
At the back were the cold rooms and some offices.
And a storage of old school meal trays.
They really were everywhere.
At the back was a small corner with more cold space and other kitchen equipment.
And remnants of the last spinach soup served, maybe.
Even the kitchen had its own entrance. Perhaps for kitchen staff entering the school.
A standard feature of abandoned buildings: a lost shoe.
Another one of the cold rooms stating clearly what it is: a freezer.
And something, which looks like a shared kitchen staff office and locker room.
The locker doors. All of them have stickers on them.
A closer look at the stickers. Basically they include pigs and motivational quotes.
As I said.
A noise warning at the back of the kitchen.
Let’s move on to the ground floor of the old, original section of the building behind and between the newer wings.