Deep beneath Kansas City, carved out of a layer of 270-million-year-old limestone, there is another world. A busting, productive world some 100 or more feet underground. A sprawling, subterranean complex the size of 140 football fields. SubTropolis.
Almost all cities offer more than meets the eye but this is particularly true of Kansas City, MO.
Kansas City sits upon a particularly rich deposit of limestone that was mined over the years for building materials. Parking lots, malls, and miles and miles of freeways had their start here.
The limestone was easy to get at because access was horizontal, not vertical. Vast, openings were carved in the base of the bluffs above the Missouri River. Level, wide entries that both people and vehicles can easily enter, not deep shafts.
SubTropolis was mined using the room and pillar method. “Rooms” are dug out around 25-foot square “pillars” of limestone on 65-foot centers spaced 40 feet apart.
This space left behind – over 55,000,000 square feet of it – was dry and stayed a perpetual 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Using it as cold storage was a no-brainer. Converting for tenants? Genius. Concrete flooring, 17-foot high, smooth ceilings, and electricity transformed the space. SubTropolis was now brightly lit, with miles of wide, paved streets accessed at street level.
The first tenants moved in in the 1960’s and the amount of leasable space continues to grow. Today, SubTropilis offers more than 6,000,000 square feet of leasable space. Another 8,000,000 square feet of space remain available for expansion.
In fact, because of SubTropolis, about 10 percent of Kansas City’s commercial real estate is underground. More than 1,700 people work here – and that’s not all. The world’s first and only underground paintball arena, Jaegers Subsurface Paintball, is here. There’s also an exotic flower garden loaded with orchids, Bird’s Botanicals.
Server Farms, retail production, food distribution, even a Wednesday flea market call SubTropolis home. Hollywood stores it’s fragile film here. Ben Hur, Gone With The Wind, Looney Tunes, every episode of Seinfeld.
More SubTropolis Facts
- more than 10,000 limestone pillars
- 8.2 miles of roads
- 2.1 miles of railroad track
- More than 500 truck docks
- Over 55 companies renting space
- More than 1,600 parking spaces
SubTropolis
8300 NE Underground Dr, Kansas City, MO 64161
SubTropolis is located just 10 minutes from Kansas City’s central business district and 20 minutes from Kansas City International Airport. Learn more online at huntmidwest.com or Facebook.
Missouri Lodging One thing SubTropolis doesn’t offer (at least not yet, anyway) is decent Kansas City accommodations. No matter where your Missouri getaway takes you, a warm and friendly Missouri B&B is somewhere nearby. Missouri Bed and Breakfasts are locally owned and operated, offering the kind of service and amenities you can find nowhere else. Book your stay at a Missouri inn today for the best in Missouri lodging!