There is somewhat a sense of calmness and rightness in seeing man made objects being slowly reclaimed back by nature. Especially industrial complexes, the big woods swallowing metal machines that bring this world as we know it to an end.
You can argue that they have done much good on the path of mankind’s progress and grasp of the future. But where we are now, it’s more than ever certain that the future won’t turn up the way we wanted it to be.
However entropy has always had the last word, and in this case it speaks it’s greens and blues all over the former metal and concrete Linfield Industrial Park.
The site is located north west of Philadelphia on the bank of Schuylkill River. Once a great industrial park with many different industries cooking their goods, a place where a lot of people were employed for over 100 years.
In it’s heydays during in the late 1960s, the industrial complex housed it’s workers on the site.
They lived with their families in houses by the river. Until, of course it was abandoned in 1986 and left to decay and rust.
The park, also known as Publicker, spans 192 acres of land. Between the many uses and different industries there are some worth mentioning. The main was in the business of repackaging and distributing antifreeze and ammonia based cleaners.
Another one, very popular, was the Kinsey Distillery, who both distilled and stored whiskey in a great warehouse on the site. Using the word great is not an exaggeration, the warehouse could store up to one million barrels of whiskey and was once known as “the world’s largest single concentration of aging whiskeys”.
During the years of abandonment the site has faced multiple fires, most of which were caused by urban explorers and local dwellers using the place as a shelter or a calm location to relax.
Firefighters had an unusually tougher job on their hands as they had to fight through the overgrown vegetation to get to the buildings. Since the last fire in February 2015, the Linfield Industrial Park has been under constant patrol by a private security company.
Security cameras have also been installed to ensure 100% safety and absolutely no invaders. Many trespassers have been arrested and charged since then, after being caught entering the site.
Up to date, two different plans have been proposed in order to re-utilize the park. One for the purposes of a trash-to-ethanol plant and another one for an electricity turbine powered by natural gas. However many actions prior to this have to be carried out for decontamination and a general clean up of vegetation and demolition of old hazardous objects. Naturally, no big industry wants to do this as it is more expensive to renovate than to build a new industrial zone elsewhere.