What modern day structure could fit the criteria for the slavers?

Question

So, out in Den, Colorado, the slave trade is absolutely booming. Slaves from nearby tribal villages and towns like Boulder and Five Families are always coming in and out, and honorable entrepreneurs have decided to start working in this business. To protect slavers from harsh treatment by local villages, a Slavers Union has formed. But, the SU needs an HQ, and they are too lazy to build one themselves. So they decide to use one of the pre-war buildings, but it has to fit these criteria.

Must have infrastructure capable of keeping people restrained and stop them from escaping.
Must have the ability to survive for about 5 decades unmaintained.
Must be easy to protect, with good defenses to stop unwanted people or creatures from getting in.

Will union bosses be in chains like everyone else, or they are freed former slaves? — Alexander, May 27 '18 at 17:01
Well, that's really outside the scope of question, but union headquarters are typically small facilities for administrative staff only. Do you need a big building keep like 10 people locked? — Alexander, May 27 '18 at 17:17
@Alexander: They are also using the building to keep and sell slaves — DT Cooper, May 27 '18 at 17:25

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered May 27 '18 at 16:55

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I currently work in corrections. The Denver Jail would suffice. Jails that are decades old are often still in use today. A county lockup nearby where I live was built in the 60's, aside from the occasional new coat of paint and some new doors installed it is still in full use housing about 50 inmates. Jails are already built like fortresses, and wouldn't be looted since jails contain very little in the way of anything valuable, and are also pretty hard to get into. Best part, the entire layout and infrastructure of the building is totally designed for holding unwilling captives and deterring nosy outsiders.

I suggest the Denver department of corrections prison building. Its big enough to hold all the merchandise but also fortress-like enough for your aspiring indentured servitude merchants to protect themselves and their profits. A prison after the apocalypse would basically be a free castle for whomever has the manpower and gumption to take it and use it as such.

answered May 27 '18 at 16:55

TCAT117

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What clues have if away that it is a Denver – DT Cooper May 27 '18 at 19:41
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I got it from their contact page on google maps. – TCAT117 May 27 '18 at 20:08
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@DTCooper Was the question "What clues give it away that this takes place in Denver?" To that I'd say "Den Colorado" was a pretty solid clue. – Saiboogu May 27 '18 at 23:16
@Saiboogu: really? – DT Cooper May 27 '18 at 23:21
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You can actually understand him? Cuz I thought he meant he wanted me to prove the building was in denver. – TCAT117 May 27 '18 at 23:49
TCAT117: English is not my first language, Sorry – DT Cooper May 28 '18 at 02:00
Not mine either, its okay, you'll get the hang of it. – TCAT117 May 28 '18 at 02:02
"jails contain very little in the way of anything valuable" except for the firearms and munitions used by the guards. – vsz May 28 '18 at 06:07
This is a good answer, but note that the roof would probably have long-since caved in, unless the climate in Denver has changed radically. – 1006a May 28 '18 at 06:07
not if squatters were living there and providing basic maintenance up until the slavers kicked em out. – TCAT117 May 28 '18 at 13:27

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 28 '18 at 01:18

While the jail may be the best choice, there is a possibility that either the Duke of Denver isn't willing to give it up as his fortress, or it was destroyed or partially destroyed in the Apocalypse.

There are some other possibilities that come to mind. The most likely is to find a records repository. These buildings are fortresslike by design, and house the records of governments or corporations. Insurance companies, in particular, have or at least had massive repositories for their records and contract paperwork. The building may have few windows or doors, was originally climate controlled, and built out of concrete in order to be fireproof or at least fire resistant, which gives it a good possibility of surviving many types of apocalypse. New residents will need to get rid of all the paper inside. The Colorado State Archives in Denver is located at 1313 Sherman St, Denver CO 80203.

Another structure which is likely to be overlooked is old telephone switch exchanges. They were built to house the electromechanical relays for the old rotary dial phones (the series of clicks you hear when dealing a rotary phone was these switching elements turning into place). Large urban centres like Denver would have had large buildings devoted to this purpose, and they would also be strongly built both to protect the equipment, provide a stable base for the machinery, and house the climate control equipment and things like emergency generators. Modern phone switching is done by computer, which takes much less space, but you can often see these mostly empty buildings still in use, with the racks of old switches long removed. The Telephone Building at 931 14th Street in Denver is a likely candidate.

A bank of two motion switches. A telephone switch exchange could have huge racks of these filling the building

The Telephone Building

Finally, and more speculatively is the tunnel complex under the Denver airport. Dug during the construction to house the various services and especially the complex (and ultimately unsuccessful) baggage handling system. Although there are plenty of people who believe the tunnels are used to house other things, including the secret headquarters of the New World Order, after the apocalypse the most likely issue with using the tunnels is they will be filled with vermin, mould or perhaps flooded. Any surviving members of the New World Order likely escaped the apocalypse with Elon Musk and now live in tunnels under Olympus Mons on Mars....

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 28 '18 at 15:34

Cheyenne Mountain Complex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyenne_Mountain_Complex

https://www.inquisitr.com/1994796/cheyenne-mountain-complex-to-re-open-prompting-emp-attack-and-world-war-3-fears/

http://www.norad.mil/About-NORAD/Cheyenne-Mountain-Air-Force-Station/

This is an extreme superfort; a giant subterranean bunker and command center deep enough to survive nuclear attacks. It has its own water. It is about an hour south of modern Denver, outside Colorado Springs. As far as a slaver castle, one could use the entirety of the subterranean component for slave pens and use the above ground pieces as defensive works. The setup with the mountain road as the only approach reminds me of medieval castles. Good luck with any frontal assault on Cheyenne Mountain.

Just like the Duke of Denver might object to handing over the prison, the his Majesty the Emperor of Colorado Springs, Commander of NORAD and Baron of the Western Rocky Mountains isn't going to leave his mountain fastness either... — Thucydides, May 29 '18 at 00:29

What modern day structure could fit the criteria for the slavers?

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