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Reply to abandoned building on mkt trail?
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mike from Columbia, MO on 4/25/2008 11:32:20 PM:
Does anyone know what the abandoned building used to be on the MKT trail in Columbia MO at about mile marker 2, near the golf course, grocery store, and katy place apartments. It is up the hill and looks like it has been vacant for a very long time. Thanks. I walk by it everyday on the way down from Katy Place apartments and can not figure out what it is.....

 
john from kirkwood mo on 5/6/2008 10:06:42 PM:
I think it is an old water treatment building, there is still water in the basement, a HUGE liability for the city of columbia and very expensive to remove

 
Justin from Columbia on 3/31/2010 1:51:49 AM:
I've searched and searched the interwebs for an answer to this very question without any
luck. The water treatment building is a good guess John, but it just doesn't seem to make
sense, location and all. I believe it had something to do with the MKT railroad. Walking
from the building towards the trail, you'll notice what could be the bed to some tracks
coming away from the trail. Also, the building itself seemed to have more purpose than
just a Water Treatment facility. On the top floor, there is a locker/shower room, rooms for
what may have been offices (or possibly living quarters). The lower level has a very high
ceiling, approx. 11-12 ft, the room itself being in an L-shape. There is a large pit in the
middle of the room, and I believe if you can find the purpose of this, you'll find the
purpose of the building, or vice versa.

I don't believe it is a water treatment plant because of the obvious living quarters, as well
as its close proximity to the MKT. The structure is similar to that of others I've seen aging
from the 60s and 70s, which fits with the last remaining years the MKT-Columbia spur was
in service.

This is about all of the info I have on the site, but maybe someone might be able to use
this to spurn on a new direction to figuring out the mystery of this building.

p.s. I've heard a couple of locals refer to this building, particularly the basement as "The
Pit", for once you enter the lower level, you can see not 1, but 2 levels of stairs continuing
downward through the murky water. My opinion? Some sort of service building for the
railroad

 
Columbia Paranormal from columbia mo on 5/11/2016 3:32:18 PM:
it is no longer there, the pit was filled in and an observatory for hikers was created where it once stood. We tried finding it for a few years then was told it was now gone.

 
Turner from Columbia on 10/29/2016 6:21:40 PM:
Did not see previous comment before venturing out to find it. I took a photo of where it used to be. Looks like they buried most of it, and used part of the building as the observatory as the concrete looks pretty old on the roof. They did have a sign that explained what it was. Didn't take a photo of that, but it was a sewer pump house, built in 1956.

Here is what it looks like today: http://imgur.com/W8TjvYk