As cleanup continues at the demolition site of a downtown Galesburg building at Main and Prairie streets, interesting finds and artifacts emerge.
Recently, a WGIL listener inquired about what appears to be an underground tunnel or entrance way under the sidewalk in the first block of North Prairie Street.
The opening is at street level, surrounded by brick, with a slightly arched brick entry.
WGIL reached out to several people we thought might be in the know, but we failed to come up with a definitive answer.
Aaron Gavin, Galesburg’s city engineer, said, “I don’t know for sure, but I assume they’re old coal (chutes) that probably had an access hatch in the sidewalk back in the day to give access to the basement of the building.
“We see them all the time downtown and have had to fill them in in the past when we’ve done sidewalk projects.”
Former Galesburg Director of Public Works Wayne Carl concurred with Gavin.
“It could have been a walkway of some sort under the street but looks like it was blocked up at some point,” Carl said. “It also could have been how they once delivered coal or other items down into the basement of the building.
“We ran across old openings in the sidewalks in other areas downtown adjacent to buildings to where there were old stairways leading into the basement for bringing coal or other items into the basement.”
Lloyd Page, a former Galesburg city engineer, also said he was unsure, adding, “ … many buildings downtown had openings to receive deliveries at the sidewalk. Many of those were closed up when the sidewalk openings were removed.”
An early-morning fire on Feb. 19 caused extensive structural and water damage of the 3-story building at 149-151 E. Main St. Demolition of the building started June 1 and cleanup of the site is expected to be complete in July.
Do you have an answer to this question, or do you have another question about something happening around Galesburg? Email Jay Redfern at jayr@wgil.com.
PHOTOS: Demolition of fire-ravaged building in Downtown Galesburg
