Omaha Exploration

For those that missed it, a garbage truck crashed into what’s being called a sinkhole at 16th and Farnam Street yesterday. I’m not sure I would call it a sinkhole given that there’s an opening beneath this portion of the street. Anyway, the front-end of the truck fell partially into a 10-12 feet deep vault where there was a number of a utility, power and gas lines. Power was shut off as a safety precaution and it appears no one was hurt.

Openings and tunnels beneath downtown aren’t anything new. In fact, it reminded me of a story that I read in 2014 in which artist Phil Hawkins operated an art studio in an underground vault that once belonged to First National Bank.

In that same story it’s reported that there are a series of underground vaults/tunnels some that are as deep as three stories. Some were used for storing coal and merchandise during downtown’s heyday as the retail center of the center. Often times the items being stored were dropped through chutes or lowered through trap doors built into the sidewalks.

There’s even some speculation that since some of the vaults are beneath the area known as the Sporting District that they may have served other purposes. The Sporting District is where Omaha boss Tom Dennison operated his gambling, drinking and prostitution interests. For more, check out author Ryan Roenfeld’s Secret Omaha Tour once the weather warms up.

It seems that some of these vaults were filled in over time while others weren’t. Some of these vaults were exposed in 2014 when the city narrowed sidewalks, add parking and removed bus stops. Some of these were also exposed in the 1980s when 16th Street was converted into a pedestrian mall.

The one beneath Brandeis was massive which makes sense given the scale of the store. It was so large that the city left it alone at the time. In recent years parts of the vault were used for parking and storage. Behind the massive metals doors are/were a collection of dusty building materials, junked furniture, and even a doll sitting in a corner.

The city also opted not to fill in the three-level vault at the Farnam 1600 Building which I believe is where yesterday’s cave-in occurred. The 2014 story states that at that time the vaults beneath the sidewalks were structurally sound.

After the accident occurred yesterday, a city engineer said that the alley where the accident occurred has been a concern for the city. They also said there are a “number of factors” that could have caused the collapse.

I’d love to hear what you have to say so please feel free to comment. Until next time, keep exploring!

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