So we are at a party on Saturday night and the spouse casually mentions tonight  he was talking with an old time Clevelander who said there are tunnels under the streets of downtown that were to used in the 1930's...specifically where between the arcade and were the Erie building now is. They were closed due to disrepair. by coincidence the NY times has an article today about tunnels in other cities but no mention of Cleveland. Fact or fiction?

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a disjointed system from one building to another, but I've never heard anything about a system that was comprehensive.  I can tell you that most of the block between East 3rd/East 4th/Euclid/Prospect is joined below ground, and I would be surprised if that wasn't the case on a number of other blocks.  Most deliveries used to come in at surface level, and then would be loaded into the building through vaults beneath the sidewalk.  Tower City is of course all connected under the apparent ground level, and I think that many of the Group Plan buildings are connected to the CC.  So there is some plausability to the notion of underground pathways, but who knows if it added up to a system.

I'm not sure about downtown but the salt mine has tunnels that extend for miles under Lake Erie.

theres an underground tunnel between the sub-basement in City Hall and the Convention Center- its used very often by City employees.

To add on to what X said, If I'm not mistake there are/were some in the Playhouse square area.

theres an underground tunnel between the sub-basement in City Hall and the Convention Center- its used very often by City employees.

 

And by non-city employees. ;D

 

There are some all around the convention center and public hall, but most are sealed and/or flooded.

I recall a tunnel at the bottom of Superior Hill in the flats. I have a picture in my head of some sort of tunnel that went from the east bank under the river to the west bank. But it was not pedestrian.

The salt miles go down at least a mile (I think two). The city council members get a tour each year.

There is also a pedestrian tunnel under East 9th Street from one of the financial buildings to another, though I don't remember which ones. My father took me through it in the 1970s. It was very brightly lit and there were lots of people walking through it.

I'm sure we'd be surprised how many tunnels there really are.  I know at the University of Dayton, a large majority of their old buildings were connected by tunnels (mainly due to the war craze).

There's a tunnel between AmTrust Plaza (Ohio Savings) and the Huntington Building. I *want* to say I've seen signs for a tunnel/connector from the Galleria parking garage to One Cleveland Center, but I'm not 100% on that.

There's a tunnel between AmTrust Plaza (Ohio Savings) and the Huntington Building. I *want* to say I've seen signs for a tunnel/connector from the Galleria parking garage to One Cleveland Center, but I'm not 100% on that.

 

MayDay I think you're right about Galleria/One Cleveland.

there is also a tunnel from the halle building to the halle parking garage building. 

 

and wasn't there a map posted once, maybe regarding the convention center, that showed a bunch of the interior connections between buildings?  maybe these weren't tunnels or maybe this was just a concept.  i can't remember.

I find this really fascinating. Like the Superior bridge tours, would there not be interest from the public in tours?

Tunnels and ghost stories

 

Come creep around in tunnels beneath Public Square 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday while listening to ghost and war stories at the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors Monument Commission's latest event. Volunteers will tell ghost stories and tales of local soldiers in the Civil War. Several women will be attired in Civil War-era dresses. Tours of the tunnels beneath the monument will also be available.

For more information, call the monument at 216-621-3710.

That sounds fun!

won't the homeless be upset that we are disturbing their residence?

They sleep on the square, not underneath.

Are you sure about that? ;-)

 

MayDay, You had to reach waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay deep down for that one, didn't you?  :wink: 

 

Talk about Old School!  Man.

Yummy, this is a good topic that I think we should expand on!

 

Galleria has a parking garage underneath that has a tunnel connecting over to One Cleveland Center.

 

Huntington Bank has a tunnel that connects to the Am Trust and parking garage beneath.

 

The Old Arcade has a number of tunnels that don't all function anymore. It is possible to get from the Old Arcade to the Holiday Inn Express and the National City Bank building complex either underground or without going outside. There is access underneath/adjacent to the food court of the Old Arcade that somehow inadvertantly connects to 515 Euclid parking garage's 2nd lower level. I also believe it goes across the street to the other side of Euclid and the other arcade's, but that one is most likely now closed and the one that was initially inquired about in the beginning of the thread.

 

Also, there is a tunnel or enclosed walkway connecting the Carl B. Stokes Justice Center to Tower City near the food court. Also, the tunnel/path connecting Gund Arena/Jacob's Field to Tower City.

 

The aforementioned tunnel from City Hall to Convention Center.

 

There is an underground parking garage near Malls A+B that connects to Key Tower and several other nearby buildings including the Convention Center.

 

Technically Tower City itself is an underground tunnel since much of the mall is beneath street level, especially the Rapid station.

 

Someone once told me it's possible or once was possible to get from Tower City to Huntington Bank thru walking tunnels.

 

However, my favorite underground tunnel in Cleveland is not downtown! It's goes underneath a famous street, it's less than 5 years old and almost has a very funky futuristic colored theme to it. Can anyone guess where it is?????????????? The true Cleveland-lover will guess first! :D

Cleveland Clinic's tunnel under Euclid at East 93rd. What do I win?  :-D

man, I just hope there are mutants ala Futurama under there. Wouldnt that be fun?

Good lord MayDay! 2 minutes and we have a winner! You win 50 Cleveland Clinic Brownie Points!!!!!!!!! :D

I'm not sure if this is fact or urban legend.

 

I've heard that there was a tunnel that led from the Euclid side of the Arcade to the Burnham Building and/or Williams (or is it Williamson?) Building. 

 

Maybe MayDay or KJP know for sure.

^ Where is the Burnham Building?

He means the Cuyahoga Building (designed by Burnham and Root) which was demolished - it stood on the south side of Superior at Public Square where 200 Public Square is now.

 

I'm not sure if this is fact or urban legend.

 

I've heard that there was a tunnel that led from the Euclid side of the Arcade to the Burnham Building and/or Williams (or is it Williamson?) Building. 

 

Maybe MayDay or KJP know for sure.

 

Hadn't heard. Sorry.

Hey...it was worth a shot.  You two know everything.

 

It was rumored that when the new SOHIO building and Garage were built those tunnels destroyed since the builders had to dig down deep for the tower footings.

 

Thats one of the mysteries I want to uncover about the building.

 

I miss working in that building.  sigh

Pope (or any other alums/staff) - anyone ever been in the tunnels under Case's campus?

^ yeah, and what about csu and the hospitals? maybe there are some between old factory buildings as well?

Pope (or any other alums/staff) - anyone ever been in the tunnels under Case's campus?

 

No, but I can find you a person who will 100% be able to tell me all about them (head of grounds)

From working at University Hospitals, I have been in the tunnels that connect the various hospital buildings:

 

There is a tunnel from the basement of Lakeside Hospital to Hanna House, also with branches to the old nursing dorms - Harvey, Lowman, Mather, and Robb Houses - which face Euclid Avenue.  There is a tunnel from Lakeside to the psychiatric hospital Hanna Pavilion as well.  Tunnels also connect UH with Case Medical School from MacDonald Women's Hospital to Wood/Sears/Robbins and the Biomedical Research Bldg.

 

Also at CCF, there is an old sub-basement tunnel from the psychiatric bldg/surgery center (P) under 90th Street to the main hospital (M) and on to the G building (they have robotic laundry carts running along magnetic strips or rails down there), then the skywalk connects all the other major buildings so you can walk from the corner of 89th and Carnegie all the way to 105th and Euclid (Cole Eye) without stepping foot outside.

If anyone went on the tour Musky posted let us know. We went up to check it out, but there was a huge line so opted out.

I was amazed by how long the line was.  I decided not to go in, too.

Maybe they'll consider doing the tour again because of interest.

I would love to see it piggy back on with the superior bridge tours (memorial day, 4th of July and Labor day)

Good idea!

I went on the tour, the wait was about 30 minutes because they let in groups of 20 people at a time.  It was pretty interesting.  They used the tunnels to store uniforms and ammunition after the Civil War had ended.  There was also some quarters for a man who used to keep the grounds.

 

The tour guide did point out that at the end of one wall had recently been sealed and that a tunnel led farther to the north but no one had ventured to go through it before that end was sealed.  Most people think it runs to Old Stone Church and was used at one time for the underground railroad, to get freed-slaves to the lake.

 

I think piggybacking off the subway tours would be a great idea, although this tour was definitely meant as a Halloween tour because it included many ghost stories.

..The tour guide did point out that at the end of one wall had recently been sealed and that a tunnel led farther to the north but no one had ventured to go through it before that end was sealed. ...

 

Do people have NO curiosity??? sheesh, not one person went to take a look see? or did they ...and not live to tell about it?  (OK I have Halloween on the mind)

I have to agree there.  I couldn't imagine sealing off a tunnel forever without finding out where it goes first.  At the very least, they should have checked the length of the tunnel to make sure they didn't trap anyone in there alive.  Since they didn't check, maybe they trapped some poor homeless soul in there and only the desperate scratch marks on the other side of the seal remain to attest to the fact.