Wow…
These photos bring back memories!
I was down there in about 1988-89, but I, along with a few friends did go there quite frequently during that time. Many beers were consumed down there. I only lived in Raleigh for a short time, about a year, but I grew up in Sanford and my friends and I visited Raleigh almost every weekend. We spent most of our time going to The Brewery for punk rock shows, or going to The Ritz Theater on Glenwood Ave. to see “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. Those were some good times and good people that I met in the area.

All this brings to mind a friend, Dave, who was killed outside the Fallout Shelter one night. He was stabbed in an apparent robbery. I never did find out all the details, as I had stopped visiting by then, but I heard about it.

I don’t remember his last name, but I remember hanging with him quite a bit.

So, here’s to Dave. May you Rest In Peace!

Hi puckjr!

That’d be Dave Mathews (aka “Little Dave”) that died outside the Fallout Shelter. also a former friend and room mate several times over. a great guy. It wasn’t a robbery, though – he and some other friends had hassled a nazi punk who’d shown up at the Fallout Shelter. They followed him out, and he banged a right downa dead end alley. They continued to hassle him and he pulled a knife. Dave tried to kick it out of his hand but the nazi nicked his neck and cut his carotid artery. dave bled to death brfore he could get back to the Fallout Shelter. The nazi walked on the grounds of self defense, and Dave’s parents wouldn’t let us attend the service or funeral.
I do miss the little goblin…

Did I know you? I was the deathrocker who looked like Bo Duke.

I played in the steam tunnels from about 1979 to 1987 or 1988. I took a few people down there to consume case after case of malt liquor, and getting in was always pretty easy. We’d go in through the Freedom of Expression tunnel – there was a door on the wall, and you could hook a comb in the hole, kick the door, and pull it open. Another way to get in was in a building to the right of the brickyard – you went in a door, and beneath stairs going up on your immediate right there was a trap door. Through it you wound up under the building, and you crawled ahead, slithered under some pipes, and you were in. I also used a manhole cover once, but that way was highly visible. Some neat parts of the system:
If you can find the free expression tunnel entrance you move to the left (as you enter), go all the way to the cage, go left through the door and then right, then left at the next intersection, watch your head with the low pipes, and move along through the dark part with your left hand dragging the top left wall of the tunnel. At a really dark part about 5 feet off the floor you’ll find another smaller tunnel in the wall. Hoist yourself into this and crawl down it’s rat-dorpping filthiness until you pop up in a maintenance building with all sorts of fun things to explore. You can actually enter parts of the HVAC system, though you can’t go too far. Some neat “rooms” in there, though.
There’s another spot in the tunnel that leads to the side tunnel – it’s an old room thagt got covered over with running pipes, but was never actually sealed off. To find it, shine a flashlight along the floor of the tunnel under the pipes. When you find it, just slither under the bottom pipes and you’re in. Nothing spectacular, though I suppose you could live there if you were homeless and there’s no way anybody would find you.
There are lots of other underground passages in Raleigh! Cameron Village is honeycombed with storm drains, most of the buildings downtown have old steam tunnels, and there are 1950’s bomb shelters still scattered around. I got copies of microfiche’d blueprints for man-high access tunnels from City Hall, I think. It’s all public domain if you’ve a mind to call and ask about them.
Ahhhhhh such memories…..