It has probably been mentioned in the thread but there are steam tunnels that go underneath campus and over to the power plant. I knew some guys that liked to down there. They used to access the tunnels via a manhole underneath some bushes by the North end of the MU, between the MU and the fountain. They said there was basement access to a lot of the buildings...
Urban Exploring at ISU
- Thread starter jaretac
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It's already been discussed. Most of those entrances are alarmed and there are motion detectors in numerous locations. The other thing is that the tunnels don't connect to all buildings and many of the tunnels are not connected to each other.
I'd like to bump this topic.
Does anyone have basement layouts for Friley, or any information on the drainage tunnels by the lake?
I finally made my way out to the shrine with some people over the summer and although it was the middle of the night and we couldn't even really see the shrine itself, just the entrance to it was creepy enough for me
I live in Chicago, I was just out there this weekend exploring. Too bad I hadn't stumbled across this thread before my trip, else I would have checked this out as well.
Anyone down for exploring in the near future?
Hey there everyone, I was out in Cyclone land this weekend, and have some new interesting information on our 'lighthouse' mystery.
Me and a few students at IA-State decided to head over to check out the shrine. It was about 4pm Sunday, we scoped it out a few times, then decided to park the car on the side down the road and hike back (in front of the farm house next to the shrine). Unfortunately, what looked like solid grass was in fact 3-feet of weeds that made it look as though it were solid ground.
Long story short, I put my small 95 Honda into a ditch nearly rolling it over. It had 2 wheels off the ground and was sitting on the sub frame. My axle was sitting on the ground, the oil pan was touching, it was bad times.
Every single person who drove by asked if we needed help, very cool! Much unlike Chicago.. We rang the bell of the farm we got stuck in front of. No dice. Fortunately though, ten or so minutes later he drove by in his pickup; asked if we needed help. I asked for a pull, he said he'd need to get his tractor. Got his tractor, and said he'd get it out for $50. Sounded good to me. I hooked it up, he started to pull and we started losing it into the ditch more nearly flipping it. Time to call a tow truck. The guy got out a phone book and called one for us, I asked how much he wanted and he said 'nothing, I didn't get you out'. I insisted, but he declined.
In the meantime while we were waiting, I asked him about the shrine. He said it was private property and that we should stay out. I asked if it was the man across the street's. He said yup. I said, what do you know about it? All he would say is that 'he [guy across the street] built it, and that he wasn't all there mentally; and that we should not trespass'.
We thanked him, turned down his offer to sit in the shade and waited for the wrecker. 10 minutes later Ed came out (I think that's what his name was). Towed my scrap out of the ditch for $88. Not terrible.
We asked him about it. Sure enough he was very familiar with it, and the man who owned it. He towed a number of cars away, as the guy has called the sheriff on many students who then abandon the car while the police show up. Nobody is ever charged. Just the fee to get the car back from the tow company.
He said 25 or so years ago when he was a young kid in school, he took a field trip out there. The 'farm' across the street was either owned by or run by his [shrine owner] wife or family friend. She was an old lady at the time, he recalled, and this was many years ago. It used to be an 'amusement park' as he described it. Now I'm not sure what you Iowa hillbilly's :smile: (I kid, I kid) call amusement parks; but I think he was referring to a park where you can see farm animals and whatnot. He recalled vaguely playing around the structure with his classmates.
The truck driver also told me that the guy wasn't 'playing with a full deck of cards'. This was completely separate from the other guy telling us, they hadn't even seen each other.
After a few hour ordeal, we did not wind up going; even though the crazyman wasn't home. I had a ~400 mile trek back home to Chicago I was late for.
I have a few pictures (mainly of my car in the ditch, heh) that I will post up.
Guys, the woodworking and craftsmanship on the front gate alone was CRAZY flawless from what I could see. There were also sheds and whatnot recessed into the trees there.
Me and a few students at IA-State decided to head over to check out the shrine. It was about 4pm Sunday, we scoped it out a few times, then decided to park the car on the side down the road and hike back (in front of the farm house next to the shrine). Unfortunately, what looked like solid grass was in fact 3-feet of weeds that made it look as though it were solid ground.
Long story short, I put my small 95 Honda into a ditch nearly rolling it over. It had 2 wheels off the ground and was sitting on the sub frame. My axle was sitting on the ground, the oil pan was touching, it was bad times.
Every single person who drove by asked if we needed help, very cool! Much unlike Chicago.. We rang the bell of the farm we got stuck in front of. No dice. Fortunately though, ten or so minutes later he drove by in his pickup; asked if we needed help. I asked for a pull, he said he'd need to get his tractor. Got his tractor, and said he'd get it out for $50. Sounded good to me. I hooked it up, he started to pull and we started losing it into the ditch more nearly flipping it. Time to call a tow truck. The guy got out a phone book and called one for us, I asked how much he wanted and he said 'nothing, I didn't get you out'. I insisted, but he declined.
In the meantime while we were waiting, I asked him about the shrine. He said it was private property and that we should stay out. I asked if it was the man across the street's. He said yup. I said, what do you know about it? All he would say is that 'he [guy across the street] built it, and that he wasn't all there mentally; and that we should not trespass'.
We thanked him, turned down his offer to sit in the shade and waited for the wrecker. 10 minutes later Ed came out (I think that's what his name was). Towed my scrap out of the ditch for $88. Not terrible.
We asked him about it. Sure enough he was very familiar with it, and the man who owned it. He towed a number of cars away, as the guy has called the sheriff on many students who then abandon the car while the police show up. Nobody is ever charged. Just the fee to get the car back from the tow company.
He said 25 or so years ago when he was a young kid in school, he took a field trip out there. The 'farm' across the street was either owned by or run by his [shrine owner] wife or family friend. She was an old lady at the time, he recalled, and this was many years ago. It used to be an 'amusement park' as he described it. Now I'm not sure what you Iowa hillbilly's :smile: (I kid, I kid) call amusement parks; but I think he was referring to a park where you can see farm animals and whatnot. He recalled vaguely playing around the structure with his classmates.
The truck driver also told me that the guy wasn't 'playing with a full deck of cards'. This was completely separate from the other guy telling us, they hadn't even seen each other.
After a few hour ordeal, we did not wind up going; even though the crazyman wasn't home. I had a ~400 mile trek back home to Chicago I was late for.
I have a few pictures (mainly of my car in the ditch, heh) that I will post up.
Guys, the woodworking and craftsmanship on the front gate alone was CRAZY flawless from what I could see. There were also sheds and whatnot recessed into the trees there.
So what does this thing look like? People keep saying "twisted playground" and I'm thinkin like twisty slides and stuff, no big deal. Some one get out there and get a picture of this thing because I cant even make a good picture in my head.
I think this thread is spookier than the actual "playground".
I have no clue on what page, but there was a youtube video in here some where.
I have no clue on what page, but there was a youtube video in here some where.
Just read through the thread...
the video that looks to be in good definition says it was removed by the user when you click on it.
The other videos are all very blurry.
Nobody ever did post the pictures they were going to take of it. So if anybody did take a close up picture... it would much be appreciated.
Fun thread to read! Good stuff.
My only input is that in 05ish We used a credit card to open a locked door in a low level of Friley... the door happened to be the top of a stair well. So we went down there and looked around. I don't remember a whole lot but I remember it was all pretty open as there were no doors separating the sectioned off rooms down there. Eventually we found an entrance to the steam tunnels (near where Friley curves toward the UDCC), and went in a short ways before deciding to not risk getting in a bunch of trouble.
the video that looks to be in good definition says it was removed by the user when you click on it.
The other videos are all very blurry.
Nobody ever did post the pictures they were going to take of it. So if anybody did take a close up picture... it would much be appreciated.
Fun thread to read! Good stuff.
My only input is that in 05ish We used a credit card to open a locked door in a low level of Friley... the door happened to be the top of a stair well. So we went down there and looked around. I don't remember a whole lot but I remember it was all pretty open as there were no doors separating the sectioned off rooms down there. Eventually we found an entrance to the steam tunnels (near where Friley curves toward the UDCC), and went in a short ways before deciding to not risk getting in a bunch of trouble.
Could you provide a bit more information as to the location of the door? Some of us are from out of state, and can risk a little bit of trouble.
Just read through this whole thread (it's awesome!) and thought I would contribute. 
While exploring friley with a friend, we came across the 'haunted dorms' in the basement near Dodd's. We turned on the lights (cuz they were off in that part of the hall) and walked down to the dorms. The temp rose and we actually started sweating, then noticed on one of the doors is written 'satan's legion' among other things, we got freaked and ran like hell. Then about a week later I was showing another friend the dorms and we were stopped by some guys that live in Dodds, they told us that they weren't really haunted, just that the rooms were closed because the windows are too small, and considered a fire hazard if some one needed to escape. I don't know if this was just to make us feel better, but I definitely got the creeps while being down there.
And I've heard stories that the only room where a student hung himself was on 5th floor.
But on to a more exploring aspect, I've heard that there is a way to get to the attic of Friley through a room on the 5th floor. There's not much up there, but still sounds cool.
While exploring friley with a friend, we came across the 'haunted dorms' in the basement near Dodd's. We turned on the lights (cuz they were off in that part of the hall) and walked down to the dorms. The temp rose and we actually started sweating, then noticed on one of the doors is written 'satan's legion' among other things, we got freaked and ran like hell. Then about a week later I was showing another friend the dorms and we were stopped by some guys that live in Dodds, they told us that they weren't really haunted, just that the rooms were closed because the windows are too small, and considered a fire hazard if some one needed to escape. I don't know if this was just to make us feel better, but I definitely got the creeps while being down there.
And I've heard stories that the only room where a student hung himself was on 5th floor.
But on to a more exploring aspect, I've heard that there is a way to get to the attic of Friley through a room on the 5th floor. There's not much up there, but still sounds cool.
Science II has the coolest view from the roof of any campus buildings. It's almost as tall as any building on campus, it has very little on the roof to obstruct the view, and it is on top the hill so you can see down toward Lincoln way and up toward the mall. I've made it on to most of the roofs on campus and Science II is my favorite.
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