Sat 4/27 @ 9AM-4PM
Interested in seeing what’s in the bowels of Cuyahoga County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument on Public Square? You have a rare opportunity to do so this week when it hosts its annual tunnel tours, which begin on the Monument’s lower Court of Honor and end up in the Tablet Room.
You’ll get to observe the system of tunnels and walls on which this Monument, built to honor the Cuyahoga County soldiers who fought for the Union in the Civil War, rests. Built to distribute the weight of the massive structure, the tunnels were once designated as a fallout shelter during the Cold War of the 50s and 60s, but now they are mostly used for storage and access. “There is no truth to the urban legend that the tunnels connect to other downtown Cleveland buildings,” they say.
The tours start at 9am; you must be in line by 4pm when the line is cut off, although the monument is open until 5pm. It’s first-come first-served; there are no reservations taken and the tours are free. The Monument itself is open Tuesday-Sunday f@ 10am-5:30pm There’s never an admission fee.