New images revealed a Hawkins icon getting demolished before Stranger Things Season 5 was released. The beloved Netflix series is set to come to an end later this year, bringing to a close a decade of sci-fi storytelling along with it. For many fans, this is the end of an era, as they are forced to say goodbye to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, and its colorful residents (including David Harbour's Hopper and Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven).
The retirement tour has started early for one particular Stranger Things location, as demolition begins at this series staple ahead of Season 5's November premiere. The fifth and final season was filmed over an eleven-month window between January and December 2024, meaning many of the sets the Duffer Brothers show was known for have started to come down—some because the series was over, and others not so much.
Recently posted photos surfaced online on Reddit, showcasing the demolition of one familiar Stranger Things location, the Hawkins National Lab (or at least the building that fans know as the Hawkins National Lab).
The Hawkins icon, which housed the mysterious United States Department of Energy in the hit series, in real life, is the decommissioned Georgia Mental Health Institute, which operated from 1965 to 1997.
The Atlanta, Georgia, institution sat on the grounds of Emory University for more than fifty years and served as the exterior for the Hawkins National Lab for all five seasons of the show.
It has now begun to be demolished, though, with plans to level the site currently being carried out. Demolition work is in its earliest stages, meaning fans looking to get one last glimpse of the Stranger Things staple should be able to do so for the next several weeks.
The property, which was once planned to become a budding biotech hub on the Emory University campus, will be razed, making way for a new 500-unit seniors community as part of an ongoing partnership between Atlanta-based Galerie Living and the university (via The Architect's Newspaper).
The building was first erected on Emory property in 1963, with architect Abraham Thomas Bradbury taking the helm. In addition to its appearance in Stranger Things, locals know the site for its imposing brutalist design and weaving underground tunnels.
This marks the second major Stranger Things filming site to be demolished in the last few months. In March of this year, it was revealed that the iconic Patrick Henry High School (aka the filming site of Hawkins High) was also set for demolition.
The Beginning of the End for Stranger Things Fans
If seeing the Hawkins Laboratory (or at least the real-life building used for filming) is tugging on Stranger Things fans' heartstrings, they'd better prepare for even more tears over the next few months.
Surely, this is just the beginning of a long goodbye for the series. Season 5 has been teased as the most emotional yet, as fans close the book on these characters they have watched grow up over the last decade.
Pair this with the rumored character deaths that could be coming for the show's final batch of episodes, and audiences better have the tissues at the ready when the series finally does return.
From a cultural standpoint, there has been (and may never be) another Netflix series quite like Stranger Things, so hopefully, its creators have something big planned so that they go out with a bang.
Thankfully, fans will not have to wait too long to find out, as Season 5 is due out in November, coming in three batches (November 26, December 25, and December 31).
