Green Street Building

Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office

So I’ve started doing this new sort of thing where I get in the car, and then pick a road and drive without turning (unless that road ends, in which case I have to turn) until I find something interesting.

The first time I did this, I found this cool old building that was also the office of the LA County Coroner and a lot of things on the premises that I wanted to take pictures of. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, so I came back on a later date with it.

I’ve since started bringing my camera along on such expeditions.

Here’s what I found.

LA County Coroner

Old Brick

When I got close enough to take a picture of the County Coroner’s office, I discovered that there were other buildings behind it, apparently on the same property, but many of these buildings were abandoned. The purpose of this particular building was unclear, but there was an above-ground tunnel, apparently for those little motorized carts that you sometimes see in parking lots, starting at the building’s base that lead to the basement level (and employees-only parking lot) of a nearby hospital.

Yellow Carts

A photo from another abandoned structure I found. In this case, a parking structure. Though the structure, and its various trappings—including this small motor pool of yellow motorized carts of unclear purpose—had very clearly not been maintained in quite a while, I discovered some time after taking this picture that the structure was only partially abandoned. It turns out that some of the people working on the grounds actually still parked their cars there, because hey, why let all those free parking spaces go to waste?

Bioworks

Between the various abandoned buildings on the County Coroner grounds was a small industrial area that was either itself abandoned or otherwise very old and poorly maintained. I wasn’t able to discern the purposes of any of the equipment, as my knowledge on the subject is someone limited, but I discovered a large number of metal drums labeled as containing bio-hazards, so I reached the conclusion that the whole operation had something to do with disposing of medical waste from the Coroner’s office and the nearby hospital (visible on the hill behind the trees in the background). There was an awful lot of old furniture that had also been disposed of in the area, which I don’t think would have been allowed if the area were not abandoned, but I’m not entirely sure.

Biostorage

Another picture from the possibly-abandoned industrial area. The old brick building in my second picture can be seen on the right, and that odd-looking beige-colored wall in the middle-background (connected to the aforementioned building) contains the above-ground tunnel I mentioned in the description for that photo.

Cathedral of Medicine I

A nice picture of the USC Residency hospital.

There’s a very good chance that I might actually go there to take pictures at some point as well. Nice building.

Biodump

Remember those bio-hazard barrels I mentioned that I found? Well, this is where I found them.

In the background, you can see a stairway that I believe leads to the USC Residency hospital up on the hill.

Biofurnace

This is one of the machines in the industrial area that I actually was able to identify. It is, quite clearly, a furnace. I believe that it may have once been used to incinerate medical waste. Maybe it’s still used for that. I don’t know.

Biowaste

Remember those bio-hazard barrels that I’ve mentioned twice now? Well, these are them.

Bioelectric

I believe this machine is a generator of some sort, although I’m not entirely sure about that. It was one of the few items in the industrial area that appeared to be in working condition, and indeed quite new. Judging by it’s location, I’m guessing it supplies power to the nearby USC residency hospital and not to the County Coroner’s office, but I might be wrong.

Hospital Utility

A small utility area connected to yet another abandoned structure, which is easily the crown jewel of the bunch: an honest-to-goodness abandoned hospital. How exciting! I really wanted to explore inside the building, but there were “No Trespassing” signs on every door, and I’m generally a law-abiding sort of person. There was a number on the signs that I could call to ask for permission, but when I tried, it rang for a full hour without anybody picking up and there was no answering machine, so I was unsure how to proceed. I suppose it’s probably for the best, because I didn’t have any safety gear or any of those other bits of equipment that urban exploration generally requires.

If any more experienced urban explorers can offer advice on how to handle situations like that, I’d greatly appreciate that. I figure it’s probably alright if I’m not hurting or upsetting anyone and the restriction isn’t being enforced, but I don’t really know if that’s the case.

The Other Building

Another building on the grounds. I’ll admit that at this point, I don’t remember much about this particular building, up to including where on the property it was located, but it sure looks interesting.

Ad-Hoc Security

This is the other reason I couldn’t enter the abandoned hospital. There was very likely a pretty easy low-tech bypass of some sort I could use to get past it, but I didn’t want to risk it.

Cathedral of Medicine II

Another picture of the USC Residency Hospital

Hospital Facade

Another picture of the abandoned hospital. It would be so much more exciting if I could have gotten inside the place.

Cathedral of Medicine III

Old Brick Sunset

The old brick building again. I was in the grounds of the County Coroner’s office for quite a while… mostly because I was trying to find someone to ask for permission to enter the abandoned hospital.

I wanted to take a picture from the fire escape, but it was very rickety and I didn’t feel safe climbing it.

People Crossing

Remember that above-ground tunnel I mentioned? This picture was taken inside it. It’s surprisingly long, and not at all abandoned. There were people at the other end, and they didn’t know who to ask about the abandoned hospital either. I don’t think people really expect to ever be asked that kind of question.

Night Ward

Here’s that abandoned hospital again, now shown in full.

And no, those windows aren’t lit. They’re just reflecting the sunset, which is located directly behind me. Most of the windows are just too grubby to reflect it.

Window Box

Some sort of… uh… thing on the other side of the compound, towards the front, between the old brick building and some of the still-active buildings.

Old Brick Alley

Another picture taken of the abandoned old brick building, in the little alleyway-like area right by the building (it wasn’t really an alleyway, since it wasn’t connected to the road) near the fire escape, immediately before trying to climb it and giving up because it didn’t feel safe.

Flower Shop

It was getting pretty dark and a bit chilly at this point, so I decided to leave and start heading home. Then I noticed this building across the street from the Coroner’s, near where I parked my car and figured one last picture couldn’t hurt. Not sure if it was abandoned as well, or just a complete shithole.

Flatbed

Some sort of shipping-related vaguely industrial site that I passed on the way home. I just can’t help myself.

L’Arc de Defaite

A cool decorative feature on a bridge I crossed on the way home.

It’s really hard to properly focus a camera in the dark.