A side trip I took while searching for Renton old coal mines was to this curious deserted shed building in the middle of a bustling area. It is only a block up from Valley Medical Center. (a large hospital and medical buildings surrounding it)

It seemed odd with this next to not only the built up hospital area but a huge pasture, a boarded up house and well kept older home with barn. What the heck was this before it’s decline?  Was it part of a large farm that urban sprawl has enveloped? When I got closer to it I found the most incredible art work. Come along for a little tour.

Some research finds that the pasture and old house are all owned by the City of Renton and are a wetland area with a creek flowing along the back of it. I think it is part of the Panther Creek watershed. This deserted piece of ground is privately owned but lets say it is not being developed right now or used.

My eye had been caught by this row of sheds many times as I travel up the hill from the valley to the Benson Hill area. I had to park up on Mill Avenue right off the busy Southeast Carr Road. Down I hiked across the field towards my target area. Made a note to myself to walk back up on the sidewalk since it was uneven going in the grass.

Then I was at the driveway to the sheds. Here is a long view of it. They seem to be what you see out in the country next to a barn. The farmer uses them to house their tractors and other equipment plus have space to repair and store parts. Certainly designed for tall and large trucks or equipment.

I skirted the gate through a hole that had been cut. Homeless debris was scattered about. That was when I got my mace out and had it cocked and loaded. Good news – I never encountered a person nor had to use my pepper spray.  Phweeee!!

Here is what I approached. As you can see it has 4 open wooden bays, a huge double truck roll up door and a concrete building for even more repair fun.

Let’s keep working on the sheds and move to the glorious art work last. Save the BEST for last.

This is a common set up and during my 1970’s in rural King County had seen many like this. However, this is in a more urban place that has not been rural for years. Some research says they were built in 1960’s but that just does not seem right. Here is a close up of the interior.  Could be “only” 50 years old I guess.

Off to the west side of the property was another set of buildings and a portable office trailer drenched in blackberries. It too had some graffiti on it. I circled around with my clippers and managed to get in the back door.  Remember I was dressed for coal mine bramble bushwhacking earlier in the day.  Here is what it looked like from the bigger sheds.

Inside the ceiling had collapsed on the front rooms plus some of the floor in the middle was trashed. The back door lead to an area that was still intact but oh my…. it was a mess.

It was full of old computers and manuals for them. Last dates were in the mid 1990’s. That calendar had a list of updates to do that day. So, the computer stuff was ancient. Not worth all the bushwhacking but here is what that all looked like.

Now that we have the lay of the land let us talk about the graffiti and homelessness here. When you approach the front of the sheds this is what you see.

Behind this rollup door it was swept out some. There was a door to the back of the building where the creek ran in a gully about 15 feet deep. More painting on the back wall but this picture does not do it justice in the dark and next to the creek bank.

Outside the door were some buckets so I assume this was the way to get water or perhaps the bathroom area. Yuck!

Back to the front of the building and to the right of the Sener Gravy graffiti on the cinder block wall was this painting.

Around to the doors of the cinder block area I went. It had a nice cement floor but it was covered in junk from car parts to rotting cardboard. It was a nice inside workshop at one time. This is where the best graffiti was. The first is a set of drippy letters that have faces painted around the window area.

Next is a mixture of sharks and Easter Island like figures. The statures are called Moai.  See if you agree.

Then we have the evil green demon like guy.

Ladder to the attic … hmmm wonder what was up there but I was not that brave. However right around the corner from this monster art was the homeless bar.  Or maybe it was a kitchen but it was so swept out in that room I assumed a party was here.  Plus look at what is on the shelf.

Then I left. Time to hightail it out of there before the residents come home. I don’t recommend this type of adventure to anyone. In fact I don’t recommend it for myself but exploring the urban world we live in is my thing.