It seems there are numerous things school districts in Amarillo are willing to shut down or delay school for. Weather is obviously at the top of the list.

There are however a myriad of reasons as to why a school would have to close their doors, and it's always wrapped around student safety and functionality.

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Yesterday, January 27, West Plains Jr. High had one of those moments, yet curiously they didn't shut school down for the day. Now, I'll preface this by saying I'm not overly versed in the reasons for closing school, but this seemed like a good one to me.

A water main break occurred at the school that impacted numerous things, including the use of the facilities at the school.

Reports from students of water rushing outside and obviously water having to be shut off to the school while the issue was worked on.

According to the notice, water was being brought in to allow access to the restrooms, which is an absolute must if you're going to keep doors open.

In speaking with a student about the incident, they were only aware of two bathrooms in the entire school that they said were open, but one of them had caution tape in front of it and wasn't usable.

I'm surprised that the school would remain open if there was only one restroom available to the entire population, but maybe that's all you need available to keep the doors open.

No word on whether or not the school managed to get the water main break fixed in time for today.

The Abandoned St. Anthony's Hospital on Amarillo Boulevard


The 119-year-old abandoned hospital is a fascinating place for any who are lucky enough to be granted the chance to explore.

The sprawling building saw thousands of Amarillo's citizens inside its halls daily, all the the way until it was shuttered in 2001. But there are still incredible artifacts of the all-too-recent past tucked away in the nooks and crannies of the old St. Anthony.

The explorer who took these photographs gave the following information:

"Many rooms were left untouched, we found patient files, old prescriptions, a blood transfusion machine from the 60s, and microscopic slides of breast cancer from the 70s and 80s. I put one picture in here of some heart scans so you can see the dates and diagnosis of the patient, but marked out the patient’s names of course. During a time when mental illness was not understood, 76 exorcisms were documented to have been performed between 1909 and 1931."

Take a look inside the halls of the legendary abandoned St. Anthony's hospital

Gallery Credit: Vaden Carthel

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