- SubTropolis
SubTropolis is a 55,000,000 square foot (5,060,000 m³), convert|1100|acre|km2|sing=on manmade
cave in the bluffs above theMissouri River inKansas City, Missouri ,United States that is claimed to be the world's largest underground storage facility.Developed by late
Kansas City Chiefs ownerLamar Hunt via Hunt Midwest Real Estate Development, Inc., it has trademarked the phrase "World's Largest Underground Business Complex (TM)".Dug into the Bethany Falls
limestone mine SubTropolis is at places convert|160|ft|m beneath the surface. It has a grid of convert|16|ft|m|abbr=on high, convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on wide tunnels separated by convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on square limestone pillars created by the room and pillar method of hard rock mining. The complex contains almost seven miles (11 km) of illuminated, paved roads and several miles ofrailroad track. Currently 5,000,000 square feet (460,000 m³) is occupied and 10,000,000 square feet (920,000 m³) are "improved." About convert|3.2|acre|m2 of available space are added each year as active mining continues.The mine naturally maintains temperatures between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 21 °C) year-round. The
United States Postal Service leases space in SubTropolis for its collectible stamp operations.On the north edge of the complex Hunt was to develop the
Worlds of Fun andOceans of Fun amusement park complex. Hunt's extensive business dealings in Clay County were to contribute to the Chiefs having theirNFL Training Camp atWilliam Jewell College inLiberty, Missouri until 1991.Other facilities like SubTropolis exist although not on the same scale, such as the abandoned mine in
Butler, Pennsylvania used byCorbis and theUS Federal Government for secure storage. As the room and pillar mining method is used to extract limestone throughout the Midwest, many companies are looking at ways to utilize the hundreds of millions of square feet created in this manner for everything frommushroom farming tocrude oil stockpiling.References
* [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/15944302.htm Kansas City Star profile]
External links
* [http://www.huntmidwest.com/subtropolis/index.html SubTropolis home site (Hunt Midwest)]
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