Demolition is imminent for the Continental Can Co. buildings at 3715 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago, which removes not only a piece of the Original East District of the historic Central Manufacturing District, but also many hundreds of works of street art graffiti painted throughout its long-derelict structures.
A filleted fish adorns the Continental Can Co. interior, as depicted in a photo taken on Monday, February 12, 2024, by Julie Jaidinger.
Light reflects from standing water in a February 12, 2024, photo of the Continental Can Co. building by Julie Jaidinger.
Demonic anguish is pictured in street art inside the Continental Can Co. as captured in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
Collapsed ceilings and pipes herald the decay inside the Continental Can Co. building in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
The shadow of a wrecking crane looms over the graffiti-adorned loading docks of the Continental Can Co. building in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
Layers of graffiti and street art stretch across the interior of the Continental Can Co. buildings as shown in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
Looming, wall-filling street art stares out at a wrecked floor of the Continental Can Co. in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
Street artists’ iconic glyphs adorn a wall and loading door of the Continental Can Co. building in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
Shadows and light fill a large room of the graffiti-adorned Continental Can Co. building in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
Graffiti reads After Dark on a loading dock in the Continental Can Co. building in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
Graffiti and street art coat the exterior of the Continental Can Co. as shown in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
Wall ladders offer extra access to street artists as seen in a February 12, 2024, photo of the Continental Can Co. building by Julie Jaidinger.
Most of the accessible spaces inside the Continental Can Co. building have been adorned with graffiti, as seen in a February 12, 2024, photo by Julie Jaidinger.
Street art glows beneath the light of a collapsed ceiling in a photo by Julie Jaidinger taken on February 12, 2024.
In between collapsing floors and ceilings, inside pitch-black hallways, and even amidst the refuse of former raves, street artists have leveraged the cavernous spaces as their canvas, filling the entire structure inside and out with colorful and elaborate insignias, totems, murals, evocations and images unfettered by constraints of venue or topic.
McKinley Park neighborhood-based photographer Julie Jaidinger captured images of the dilapidated spaces and street artwork of the Continental Can Co. buildings prior to demolition.
Cold Storage
“It was much bigger than expected,” she said.
The Continental Can Co. complex is set to be replaced with a modern cold-storage facility from Karis Cold to service heavy demand in this industry, as previously reported here in the McKinley Park News.
Related: Street Art Glitters in the Crumbling Halls of the Candy King
Photography of street art inside the now-demolished Wrigley Co. factory at South Ashland Avenue and West 35th Street
American Demolition Corporation for its support enabling safe and qualified access to photograph the artwork and spaces of the Continental Can Co. structures prior to demolition.
The McKinley Park News thanks theJulie Jaidinger is a sponsor of the McKinley Park News who has received this consideration based on her provision of licensed photography for use by this publication.
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