Abandoned

Most people who drive by an abandoned building see, well, an abandoned building. Jay Chaikin sees dollar signs. This programme follows Chaikin and partners Dan Graham and Mark Pakenas as they scour through dark, dank and dilapidated structures across the US in hopes of uncovering forgotten pieces of American history. For every item they uncover in such places as the former Pabst Brewing Co. headquarters in Milwaukee, a grist mill in Maryland, and a 170-year-old church in Philadelphia, Chaikin must negotiate its sale from the building's owners, a process that can be the hardest part of his job. But he rarely leaves any site empty-handed. He takes what he buys back to his workshop in Pennsylvania to refurbish before reselling them.