Brewed Fresh Daily

Cleveland is getting ready to do some major work on its main street, Euclid Avenue. It's planning to build bus lanes, expand the sidewalks and put in trees and other improvements. But first it has to fill in the vaults. How's that? Just beneath downtown Cleveland's sidewalks, there's a honeycomb of vaults that were once used for storing coal and heating oil or as freight entrances for businesses. (These were called "pop-ups." A bell would ring loudly, metal sidewalk grates would open, and a elevator would slowly rise to the sidewalk.) "Most people are surprised to find out that underneath, the sidewalk is hollow," said a local architect. The vaults have been abandoned for years but city officials worry that they might not withstand heavier uses overhead. So the city wants to reinforce or simply fill them in with concrete. Cost of the work: $9 million. So, in their inspection tours, have city workers found anything interesting tucked away in Cleveland's vaults � say, a nice wine collection or perhaps a missing Rembrandt or two? Nah. "These are underground concrete pits," says the city's public works director. "There's no romance in the vaults."