The Wildcat Chronicle continues its exploration of the backrooms of the West Chicago Community High School, this time journey to two new and seldom seen locations in the nearly 100-year-old high school. Few students or even staff have had the opportunity to view the backrooms of the third floor, nor the old boys’ locker room near the swimming pool.

The Third Floor Mechanical Room

Venturing up a staircase to the third floor, just beyond a classroom on the northwest side of the building (the former “Challenge” yearbook room, whose name was only just removed from the wall outside in December 2022), there is a metal doorway which is labeled “mechanical”. Of course, no students are permitted to go beyond this entryway without permission and supervision.

Beyond the door, as seen in the albeit out-of-focus photo, are white pipes which trace the ceiling, along with bright lights that can be switched on from an outlet placed on a brick wall to the left. The brick matches that of the original building. The middle of the hallway is so dark that the camera struggled to focus.

English teacher Brian Turnbaugh paves the way through the rarely seen mechanical room. The sturdy pillars in this area are composed of unpainted cinderblock. Machinery runs along the right and left side of the room. Upon looking back from the end of the dark hall, there appears to be another metal doorway which glows with orange colors, most likely from lit buttons and/or a screen. 

At the end of the hallway, the date April 13, 2020 is etched on the wall. At this point in time, almost all students and staff were out of the building due to COVID-19. Who left the note, therefore, is a mystery. 

The end of the hallway features another solid door which leads into an office, used as a storage place for the World Languages department in what was once the English office (until 2020). The space is cluttered, with chairs stacked on one side, and boxes loaded with paperwork and supplies. A wheelchair remains idle in the midst of the mess.

Few students and staff realize there is actually a small hallway on the west side of the third floor that connects both sides of the U-shaped floor plan in a loop.

The Former Boys’ Locker Room

Leaving the third floor, there is one more area for exploration: the old boys’ locker room just above the swimming pool.

As it turns out, there are only a handful of individuals with a key to this space. In order to gain access to the door leading to the old locker room, which is directly next to the entrance of the girls’ locker room outside the pool’s entrance, someone from the physical education department had to provide access.

Upon entering the seldom-accessed area, one sees a steep and chipped staircase. The cinderblock walls to the left are marred with splatters of some unknown substance.

At the top of the staircase (the door to which can be seen through the window) is an endless array of organized boxes, full of files. Stepping toward the right, one enters this dark and small room which includes even more cardboard boxes, as well as pieces of cardboard scattered around. 

From the small room, one moves into another, smaller room which is stacked with even more boxes. To the left is a dark storage space with no lights other than the light omitted from visitors’ phones. The walls are unpainted.

At one point, lockers lined this space, only to be replaced by arrays of shelves, all filled with even more boxes stuffed with documents and files, dating as far back as 2009. Behind the metal gate lies the space that used to be the boys’ shower room, now repurposed for storage.

Has this old, stained trash can which sits beside the gate been here since before the boys’ locker room was abandoned? 

Motivation can be found in the most unusual locations, including behind steel shelves. The paper, placed within a hole in the wall, is wrinkled and ripped, perhaps due to the temperature in the room, which gets progressively more humid as one moves further down the hallway. A loud, ambient, gas-like noise buzzes throughout this area.

A tattered blueprint, found lying on top of some metal drawers, appears to depict design plans for the current football field. 

The multi-colored tile stairs were likely installed in 1978 when the swimming pool was built. They lead down to the pool deck.

Upon trying to open the door to these stairs, the heavy wooden panel slammed shut as if sucked back into the door frame. 

A familiar sight from an unfamiliar location: the swimming pool at West Chicago Community High School. Natural light trickles in from the rafters, and the water, much like the rooms depicted here, remains untouched.

For Part I of the backrooms photo essay, click here.