An Abandoned Motel: Sands Motel
Why are abandoned buildings so interesting? It’s because they have stories to tell. They’ve lived lives and been around. But, sometimes they can’t tell the complete story. It’s up to the imaginative viewer to decipher the clues.
At one time—before the motel rooms were void of people and the wood was rotted—abandoned structures, like the Sands Motel, were brand new. Guests checked in, each with his, her or their separate lives and stories to tell. The motel they were in was only a hub for the traveler(s). A stopover from a place before a person arrived to somewhere.
This one was eye-catching enough to pull over and photograph it for a few minutes. In my mind, I overlayed the weather-beaten and faded sign with vibrant colors and lights.
The history of abandoned structures forces deep intrigue. Someone, at some time, had an idea to build the structure and start a business. Over time, as things do, a building becomes neglected. Sometimes the building is demolished and sometimes it’s restored.
Either way, the abandoned structure was once a place where people gathered for whatever reason, and for that the abandoned structure means something.
To appreciate an abandoned structure is to honor it.
Though provoking – we are often too quick to tear things down, and with them all those stories and the work of the past. If we thought about the people that built, and used these places, we might be more imaginative about their future use…
Exactly Steve, thank you for your message! I love your point about how current structures could, and should, affect our thoughts and ideas about future structures.