The Manchester Parkade

On Reddit today (the Connecticut Subreddit, to be precise), XISMZERO posted a fantastic series of exterior shots from the old Manchester Parkade.  Growing up around the Manchester area, I have memories of being dragged here as a kid to go shopping at the Bradlees, and then (after many requests) being rewarded with a trip to one of the nearby arcades.  I've been doing UrbEx for a long time now, but this is the first site I've seen where I actually have a personal attatchment to the site from childhood.  It's amazing, to me, to see the transititon the site has undergone in only a few short years.

I've also learned that the site is scheduled for demolition soon, in order to make room for a new public park.  I'll have to remember to make a trip before it's too late, and another Connecticut relic is destroyed in the name of progress.

Current Repurposing

So, for my LAP class, I need to create and maintain a blog.  If you're one of my classmates visiting this site from the links on Blackboard, welcome.  Take a look around, and I hope you enjoy the blog.  Please don't think I'm weird.

While this site will still be used for its primary purpose as an UrbEx portfolio, it will also be double-booked for this class for the next semester.  Posts related to UrbEx will be tagged as such, and vice versa for class-related entries.

Soooo: Our first assignment is to talk about why computers are important to our lives.  I'm going to try and respond to this in the context of UrbEx, to make this transition easier.

UrbEx has been around for as long as people have been exploring abandoned buildings, but it's impossible to ignore the effect that modern technology has had on the practice.  In the old days, so I've been told, an explorer was pretty much cast out on his own, having to rely on word-of-mouth or his own experience to find new sites.  Photos were kept for their own personal collection, if they were taken at all, and only rarely shared when he discovered someone else that shared the same interests.  Those early days may have an 'underground' nostalgia for some, but today, things have changed entirely.

Today, entire web communities such as UER and UrbExFourm have sprang up around our little hobby, allowing explorers to share tips and photos with like-minded individuals.  Research, either historical or otherwise, can be done on just about every site through Google or, in many cases, Wikipedia.  The 'thrill of the hunt' may have gone out of the game, but now it's simple for any novice to jump in with the rest of us seasoned pros and have some fun...  And besides, we've all got our own secret hideaways, right?

And that's only mentioning the 'exploring' aspect; the skill of discovering and making your way into a site.  The 'art' aspect has changed even more, with the prevalence of newer technology such as digital photography, GPS, and portable radios.  Granted, there's something to be said about developing pictures from an ancient Nikon in your own darkroom, but the size and simplicity of a decent digital camera can't be beat when you're trying to pack as little gear as possible, especially now that professional cameras are able to take pictures that are clearer and more vivid than a large majority of film.

Technology always marches forward.  This has been a truth throughout the entirety of human history, and it’s not going to change anytime soon.  I know many UrbExers adopt an almost luddite-like stance against it, which is understandable, given our love for the old and forgotten that is often trampled under the march of progress.  But the future will come, no matter how strongly we stand against it.  It’s only by embracing it can we hope to adapt and improve with the changing times.

Reborn

I've brought the site back up in order to keep a permenent online record of our past adventures.  I might re-design or re-purpose the site in the near future.

Fun while it lasted.

Well, this website was a cool little experiment, but for several reasons, The League's website will be going down indefinitely in 4 days.  Rest assured that we'll keep exploring, but the site itself will be no more.

Thanks for the memories.

'We Don't Rattle'

-The League.

Oh Shi-

Major update incoming.  Will hopefully be done by tonight, but if not, I won't be able to get to it until next month.  Stay tuned!

Update on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 05:33AM by Malchance

EDIT:  Well, couldn't get the video compressed to a reasonable size, and now it's deadline time.  Sorry folks, we worked till the buzzer here, but now I gotta head out for a month for a work-related trip, and I won't have access to the files I need to finish the video.

As soon as we get back, we'll have it uploaded.

Update on Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 05:59PM by Malchance

Back from our 'buissness trip'.  Working on compressing the video now and it hopefully will be up before tomorrow night.  In the meantime, our good friend Omega_Red at Precedent Cinema has uploaded the video to his site at http://www.precedentcinema.com/pleasurebeach.html, so check it out there!