Family warns against urban exploring after woman falls six stories in Minneapolis grain elevator

A 19-year-old urban explorer fell six stories through an old grain elevator in north Minneapolis and cracked her head on a cement slab. Her friends called the police. EMS rushed her to the hospital, where surgeons removed part of her skull to accommodate brain swelling.

Two weeks later, Carly Barnes still is in the ICU, breathing on a ventilator. She hasn’t fully woken up yet, but she’s started shifting her arms and legs on command, aunt Shannon Johnson said.

“Definitely, she was a miracle,” Johnson said. “She fell six stories, but she didn’t break any bones, except for her skull, which is probably the worst bone to break ... but it’s just going to be a very, very long journey to recover.”

Police reports show Barnes and friends were climbing inside an old grain elevator at Upper Harbor Terminal, the former barge landing in north Minneapolis now undergoing reconstruction.

Once complete, Upper Harbor Terminal is supposed to have a First Avenue amphitheater, housing, manufacturing and a sprawling park reconnecting north Minneapolis with the Mississippi River. Most of the obsolete industrial structures, including its iconic concrete domes, were demolished years ago. But a cluster of grain elevators, including the one where Barnes fell, remain.

Long-term plans for the grain elevator complex — which stands on property owned by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board — indicate they may be used for storage of gardening and maintenance tools or a water reuse cistern.

But for now, the site features prominently on urban exploring blogs, Facebook groups and TikToks, where it’s been nicknamed “Alien City.”

“As they were climbing, there was a certain part where he noticed there was an empty platform that dropped straight down to the ground,” according to the police narrative. “When Carly had reached up to where [the friend] was, she went around him where the empty platform was and she fell straight down.”

Park Board spokesperson Robin Smothers said there have been three falls involving trespassers at Upper Harbor Terminal this year — none fatal.

After the first incident, in April, the Park Board worked with the city’s Public Works department to weld doors shut. Now, following two more accidents in September, Park Board staff are again meeting with the city to see how far up the structures they need to continue welding access points. The site is under the control of a construction company, surrounded by a fence and full of no-trespassing signs, she said.

“You should also understand that when we accepted the property ... it was that we had to preserve those building remnants as part of historic preservation,” Smothers said. “Removing them, knocking them down, was not an option for us.”

Minneapolis was founded as a milling city, and the dangerous ruins of old grain mills and elevators continue to attract young people. Barnes’ family members said she was not a practiced urban explorer who used climbing equipment, nor was she a daredevil any more than any normal young person who might have been up for a social media challenge.

Barnes’ long-term recovery is unclear.

Her family has withdrawn her from all classes at a local community college this semester and repaid her financial aid disbursement. Because her mother has been at her side since the accident and unable to work, her aunt set up a medical fundraiser for $20,000 on GoFundMe.

Johnson hopes their family’s story will make other young people think twice about risking their lives to explore structurally unsound abandoned properties.