The Domes: urban decay in the middle of nowhere

there is a place near Casa Grande in Arizona that holds a great deal of stories and embellishments. of course because of its current state of decay and off beat location it has also developed a bit of an odd reputation. this place is the Domes, and not a whole ton of information is known, but wild mass guessing is quite prevalent.

i first heard of this place two ways, one was by a bike friend of mine who just love riding any and every road he can. his current goal is to ride every paved road in arizona. more power to you man, good luck and be safe because im a bit jealous of your quest.

the second way i heard about the Domes was through a website called Atlas Obscura (www.atlasobscura.com) that i enjoy haunting because it has helped me plan some interesting trips. i highly recommend going to the site and looking up your home area because it might blow you away to see whats hiding near by.

 

now the atlas says the Domes are haunted, used for satan worships, teenage beer drinking and graffiti- i would say yes to 90% of that. i find the satan worship a little hard to believe but thats mostly because im from new england and when i think satan worshippers i think stepford smilers which makes me think WASP families hiding their evil ways behind perfectly maintained colonial styles homes build on the edge of the national seashore under the veneer of protestant christianity and old world blood/trust fund life styles.

 

what i did note while there was that the was certainly a lot of garbage abandoned there, there was a ton of graffiti, what looked like the camp of some squatters and probably the most awesome acoustics ever. i was also surprised by the lack of structural supports of rebar to reinforce the concrete buildings- so the collapsed holes in the wall and ceilings were quite unsurprising. i would also was the site is fabulous for a backdrop for a shoot.

after digging on the net i found an article that said the site was originally built to be a computer technology and manufacturing site owned by Patricia Zebb back in the early 1980s. searching for more information involving her does pop up, even the business she owned back then and planned on moving to the Domes- InnerConn Technology Inc.. so having found that she is in fact real i have more interest in why the idea and site was abandoned. apparently a loan was defaulted on, as well as contaminated ground water was found.

i will say it is private property. so trespassers understand that you can be persecuted for exploring. i will also stress that there is a lot or sharp broken glass and rusted debris all over the place as well as a tunnel system- so be very careful.

p.s. i will be going back to take better photos. sadly that involves me buying a better camera.