![]() I’ve had a gun pulled on me once-at an old mansion near Longview Lake in Lee’s Summit,” she says. “I’ve been in some of the roughest neighborhoods without any problems. Daniel avoids intruding into their living quarters, and often brings bags filled with snacks, cans of soup and toilet paper as a good will gesture. ![]() ![]() Graffiti is ubiquitous where she explores, and so are the homeless, who usually find a way in. The documents were later removed by authorities. That was just an open invitation for the wrong person,” she says. In 2018 Daniel alerted Fox 4 News after discovering hundreds of personal documents containing social security numbers, birth certificates and medical records scattered on floors and filed in cabinets at the Islamic school. Items left behind can be troubling for other reasons. “Any part that can be utilized should be utilized.” She cites the demolition of the Knickerbocker Apartments in the Valentine neighborhood as exemplary, noting that even bricks were stacked and set aside for reuse. I understand everything can’t be saved, but there should be more accountability,” she says. One of her stranger discoveries was a group of medical mannequin butts at a former Midtown hotel that later housed a hospital and proctology practice. Daniel is often shocked at the wasted resources that remain-pallets of shrink-wrapped computers, vending machines, furniture, toys and forklifts. “I have a flashlight, but no tools.”Ībandoned buildings are not always empty. “I don’t break in, but I bend the rules a little,” she says. Once she attended an auction to view an old mansion near Ward Parkway, hanging back from the crowd to photograph the empty rooms. Sometimes Daniel gets permission to enter buildings and sometimes she finds an unlocked door. “Nine times out of ten it’s just cheaper to tear it down, which is a damn shame.” “There’s no money behind restorations for most places,” says the suburban mother of two who lives in Liberty. ![]() Daniel says some places are preserved like a time capsule, while others are only a memory of what they used to be. Her books contain many snapshots of structures-schools, houses, churches, warehouses- that no longer exist. And more often than she likes, the tributes serve a dual purpose as obituaries. Her photos of abandoned sites are tributes to their storied past, she says. 20, she’ll present a livestream Facebook talk through the Mid-Continent Public Library in partnership with the University of Missouri Extension Community Arts Program. She has published two books in her “Abandoned Kansas City” series and a third volume is underway. Like many urbexers, Daniel photographs the sites she visits. “I like the stories these places tell about what they used to be.” “But there are a lot of good ones out there, too, and quite a few of them are women,” Daniel says. Some enter buildings just to tear them up. Urban explorers or urbexers are usually young, white men who visit abandoned or hidden structures as a pastime. It was established in 1989, but Daniel isn’t sure why it closed in 2015, admitting, “There are times when I’m looking for information and I hit a wall.” Posted diagrams show the human skeletal system and how to find the area of a rectangle, while hallway signs exclaim “Welcome back!” and “Leave your shoes neatly by the wall,” with a follow-up quip in parentheses, “Don’t take better ones on your way out.”Īt one time the preK-12 Universal Academy Islamic School at 10515 Grandview Road enrolled 113 boys and girls. ![]() Also left behind are classroom chairs, a carousel slide projector and cafeteria dishes. Urban explorer Regina Daniel wonders what happened that caused a private school in south Kansas City to close so abruptly that an entire library of books remains. Books, desks, and shelving were left behind at he PrreK-12 Universal Academy Islamic School at 10515 Grandview Road. ![]()
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