RACCOON CITY

Raccoon City is an industrialised urban area located in the Midwestern United States of America. To the north, beyond the vast Raccoon Forest, is the Arklay Mountain range. As of 1998, the city boasted a population of over 100,000 residents, classifying it as a mid-sized metropolis.

Once nothing more than a tiny little town, the large-scale international Umbrella Corporation made the city’s development possible. Indeed, the fact that Raccoon City was the birthplace of the worldwide pharmaceutical company back in 1968 was a big enough draw for the tourists alone. Umbrella began to create factory after factory and this brought about the rapid growth of the city. Roughly 3 out of every 10 citizens were employed by Umbrella or at least had associations with them.

It is undetermined when exactly Raccoon City was established but the significant history begins in 1962 when an engineer named Michael Warren visited the city for the first time to promote electrification. Back then, Raccoon was nothing more than a small rural community. In 1968, Warren assisted in the completion of an electronic trolley car in Europe and later brought it to Raccoon City that same year. He later went on to plan the entire transportation system. Since then, the trolley has become the main form of transport for the citizens. A year later, the Kite Brothers railway line was completed, beginning with just one mile of track and only three stops. However, thanks to the economic rejuvenation provided by Umbrella, the railway would continue to expand over the next 20 years and by 1989 would have over 8 miles of track and 8 fully working stations.

Michael Warren developed a keen interest in administration and politics and was praised for his distinguished service. Thanks to these acknowledgements, he became mayor of Raccoon City in 1987. Warren and Umbrella began to form a very close relationship and the city received much financial support from the corporation. Welfare, public service, the construction of medical facilities, public orders of maintenance…the public invested in everything.

The corporation began to gain even more influence in the city’s politics, and Raccoon City thrived under it. Umbrella even built a research facility underneath the centre of the city, unbeknownst to the public, and continued its top secret viral research. Even then, Umbrella was the main sponsor of the tremendous city project; The Bright Raccoon 21st Plan, which was intended to fight crime and protect the environment. This established Umbrella’s positive corporate image in the city.

Because of Warren’s campaign, the town gradually transformed from rural community to an industrialised city. However, the city’s rapid expansion and modernisation was accompanied by rising crime rates and even terrorist activities. In response to this and as part of the Bright Raccoon 21st Plan, the Special Tactics and Rescue Service {S.T.A.R.S.} Raccoon City branch was created in 1996, as a countermeasure to the wave of crime. This further linked Umbrella to the city as they had provided 50% of the funds for the project.

By 1998, Warren was in his 11th year as mayor . He was held in such high esteem that he was honoured with a commemorative bronze statue in the rear garden of City Hall.

There were plenty of landmarks and key locations within Raccoon City. The central area was divided into Uptown and Downtown, with the majority of stores and communal services located within.

There was also a shopping district within the city. The Uptown section actually occupied the southern city portion of Raccoon. This area was also known as the Cider District

NOTABLE LOCATIONS:

Bar Jack:
A small out of the way bar popular with students. It was an ideal place to start a night out before moving up into town. More often than not local bands such as ‘BIG E’ were booked to play there. Inside there was a small dance floor and a couple of retro pinball machines. The bar did food and also sold postcards showcasing local landmarks such as the St. Michael Clock Tower.

Kendo’s Gun Shop:
Located on Flower St, Kendo’s was a local firepower suppliers run by Robert Kendo, who was a good friend of S.T.A.R.S. member Barry Burton. Kendo had a contract to supply custom guns and parts for the S.T.A.R.S. team. The business was co-owned with his brother Joe, who was an ex-SWAT team member and worked as a gunsmith in San Francisco.

Raccoon Police Department:
Situated on Ennerdale St, the police house was formally an art museum until it closed in the late eighties and was purchased cheaply for use as a station by the R.P.D. due to its centralised location and ample parking facilities. The S.T.A.R.S. teams are based here.

Café 13:
A small café situated next to the movie theatre. Contains access to a small waste filtering level that can be flooded. The café sells tourist pamphlets entitled ‘City Guide’ with endorsements from Mayor Michael Warren.

Movie Theatre:
Playing ‘Biohazard 4’ throughout September 1998. A groundbreaking entry to the franchise that won an entire new audience. But fans of the original films criticised it for the poor story and lack of ties to the originals.

Raccoon Press:
Small newspaper office located near city hall. Located on three floors the first floor harbours a reception desk and a vending machine. An electronic shutter can be opened to give access to the second floor which contains offices. The third floor contains more offices and the back window leads down to a small back alleyway filled with garbage bags.

City Hall:
Located near to Central Station, City Hall was built practically in the heart of Raccoon City. The nearest main road was Warren St, named after the mayor and the municipal building garden had a bronze statue of the mayor built to honour all his achievements in the city.

St. Michael Clock Tower:
One of the tourist hotspots of Raccoon City. A huge tower that offers a view of the whole town. It was located just off Raccoon St and Mission St and was directly in front of the General Hospital and Raccoon Park. It was named after the patron saint Michael and a festival is held in his honour every year in Raccoon City on September 29th.

Raccoon General Hospital:
Built in 1992 through funding provided by Umbrella as a replacement for the small hospital located in Raccoon Forest which was closed down a year later in 1993. Included state of the art medical facilities that were spared no expense. Umbrella also installed a hidden laboratory in the basement and it also provided easy access to the sewers, with a boat moored up to ferry employees directly to William Birkin’s lab. A vaccine for the T-Virus was developed in the hospital lab.

Raccoon Park:
Park that was located on Woodbine St set behind the St. Michael Clock Tower and the General Hospital. It included many water features and had streams and ponds running throughout. It also contained the city cemetery and led to the ‘Dead Factory’ on the outskirts of town. Also led towards Raccoon Forest and the Arklay Mountains.

J’s Bar:
Popular drinking hole with many locals, including S.T.A.R.S. member Barry Burton and Officer Kevin Ryman. The bar’s owner Jack, was into money laundering. The bar was known for its great food, thanks to Chef Will and his book of secret recipes. Cindy Lennox was also a waitress here.

The Apple Inn:
A hotel that was built over three floors. Ben Bertolucci booked in here as he began his investigation into the strange goings on in the city. It was also used as a meeting point for Ada Wong and her contact from ‘The Organization’. The hotel recently changed hands and the new owner installed a strange electronic map as a decoration in one of the guest rooms. This proved to annoy many of the guests as its constant flickering kept them awake at nights. The hotel boiler was also old. It had been neglected and needed replacing.

Raccoon University:
University built over two floors with a basement. Umbrella had dealings here for one of the university professors was Greg Mueller, who was also an Umbrella researcher. Greg had created the Thanatos Tyrant, as well as the ‘Daylight’ a reagent vaccine for the T-Virus.

Raccoon Zoo:
Very popular with tourists. Back in the 1970’s the zoo used to have elephant parades where they would outfit the elephants with Christmas lights. There was also a recent accident where several animals escaped the zoo, resulting in severe reprimands from local Raccoon citizens. This resulted in zoo officials having to install a special new lock at the front gate in which blue and red lion emblems were needed to unlock it. A recent new addition to the zoo was the Terrarium Dome which housed over 750 species of rare plant life. There was also a huge elephant stage and a public animal display stage for tourists and children. The zoo’s star attractions include an elephant named ‘Oscar’, and a male adult lion named ‘Max’. There had been recent controversy surrounding the zoo when a member of the board of directors was involved in the illegal trading or rare orchid specimens. It was believed that the illegal money being generated from these sales was used to pay for the recent new extensions and exhibits being unveiled at the zoo.

Raccoon Underground:
The underground rail system is run by the Kite Brothers who first came to the city in 1969.

Raccoon High School:
The main school of Raccoon City. The dog handler for the R.P.D., Fred, used to take the police force’s two prized Dobermans, Rocket and Jo Jo, on trips to see the kids on a regular basis.

Umbrella also had a number of key facilities in Raccoon City:

Sewers:
Practically the whole sewer network was under the control of Umbrella and their employees used it as a means of getting around the city undetected and without arousing suspicion. Chief Irons often used it to attend meetings with William Birkin and Birkin himself would use the facilities provided to conduct training seminars to Umbrella employees from other offices.

Underground Laboratory:
Built deep beneath the surface of Raccoon City, this laboratory was built for doing special clinical trials and developing pharmaceuticals. With its tight quarantine facility, experiments can be performed on various levels of viruses. General Umbrella employees do not even know of this facility's existence, let alone have opportunity to enter. This is where the physical containment level P4 laboratories are. Many high-level viruses capable of posing a biohazard threat are handled here. To enter this area, it is necessary to pass through 3 to 4 layers of additional security. But, as the people who work here use these viruses for their experiments on a daily basis, they have gradually become desensitized to the dangers that surround them.

Dead Factory:
Purchased by Umbrella in 1996 for use as a disposal plant for materials and used guinea pigs from William Birkin’s underground laboratory. On the outside the facility looked deserted, but armed security were employed and any curious individuals caught skulking around the factory were captured and used as guinea pigs. The Dead Factory was one of the main causes of the T-Virus seeping out into Raccoon City throughout the late summer of 1998.

Umbrella Sales Office:
Commercial office where admin work was carried out. This was where information was kept on some of Umbrella’s more legal products such as Safsprin and Adravil.

Corporate Headquarters:
Well-enforced facility used to keep infant Hunter Us. It also housed experimental T-103 units and a prototype T-Virus reagent was developed here.

General Hospital:
Because the building was constructed using Umbrella funds. They requested that a lab facility was built into the basement levels of the hospital. Hunter Gammas were kept here in suspended animation tanks. A T-Virus vaccine was also developed here.

Raccoon City was completely obliterated on the morning of October 1st 1998 when a tactical nuclear device was launched by the US Government following a T-Virus outbreak within the city. The death toll surpassed the 100,000 mark.
Following the disaster, ground zero was fenced off and monitored by a small Umbrella station set up within the main blast crater. Every year there is a memorial service held for the citizens of Raccoon City.