Underground Vaults & Storage

Underground Storage Company Offers a High Level of Security and Service at a Low Cost
by Robert J. Rua

Hutchinson , Kansas is a remote and sparsely populated town. Its residents' homes are divided by wide expanses of flat Kansas grassland. The center of town is less than bustling. At the edge of this prairie oasis, miles from the frenetic pace and dense population of the nearest urban center, lies the Hutchinson salt mine, an extensive system of tendril-like tunnels carved 650 feet below the surface of the earth. Since 1959, this massive underground expanse has been the home of Underground Vaults and Storage (UVS), a full-service storage company that offers its clients a variety of unique services and unmatched security.

In the nearly 50 years since UVS was founded by a group of extremely prescient Kansas-area oil men, the company has expanded to include six locations – three above ground storage facilities (Wichita, Kansas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Topeka, Kansas), and three underground storage facilities (Hutchinson, Kansas; Louisville, Kentucky; and Kansas City, Missouri). UVS's underground facilities, which are situated in abandoned salt and limestone mines, are especially popular with clients looking for the added dimension of security such spaces can provide. Chris Eden, UVS Marketing and Business Development Manager, explains, “The primary advantage of underground storage services like our company offers is disaster protection. It doesn't get much safer than say, for instance, our Hutchinson facility which is deep, relatively inaccessible, and protected by a 400-foot thick salt cocoon.”

The Hutchinson vault is, in essence, a rocky, sub-earth fortress for protecting client documentation and assets against natural and manmade disasters, prying eyes, theft, fraud, and vandalism. The vault is only accessible through two vertical access points which, as noted above, are located inconspicuously amidst the skimpily inhabited prairie land of rural Kansas. It's a roughly two minute descent via a hoist from the surface to the dark interior of the vault. The steep descent is an effective theft deterrent to aspiring burglars and vandals. There's simply no sneaking in or hurrying out.

Because of its unique level of security, the Hutchinson vault attracts a wide variety of clients. Some seek to store items typical to a professional storage facility, for example insurance, government and other vital records. Others seek to store the slightly unusual: artwork, movie props, and museum artifacts. Increasingly, says Eden, the vault is attracting Hollywood archivists looking to store film reels for posterity. “A good portion of what we store in Hutchinson,” he explains, “is related to the film industry. We store millions of film elements at any given time.”

You might think an underground cavern is not an ideal place to store valuable, historic, or sensitive items. After all, aren't mines cold and damp? Aren't they filled with dripping stalactites, rats, bats, and other creepy rodents that like to make nests out of paper scraps and cardboard? Well, actually... no. At least not at UVS's carefully chosen facilities. There are very few underground mines suitable for commercial storage applications in North America . Most limestone mines, for instance, are damp and prone to water leaks – obviously a tremendous turn-off for professional storage providers. A mine with a leaking problem will face a constant struggle to keep damaging water out. It can become a futile uphill battle, like a little Dutch boy trying to plug the holes of his broken dam with his fingers. The UVS facilities remain bone dry all year-round.

“The mines we have converted into storage facilities,” explains Eden , “are fairly rare. It takes a confluence of proper conditions to make and ideal underground storage facility. The founders of UVS chose the Hutchinson salt mine, for instance, because it was perfect to accommodate storage. Not many salt mines can boast that. There are probably one or two other salt mines in the nation that could do what we're doing.” In fact, the climate inside the Hutchinson facility is surprising pleasant. It's as dry as a desert, and because there is virtually no water, no natural light, and no natural food sources, there are no rodent pests. The temperature is a steady 68 – 69 ° year-round with between 34 – 35% humidity. Fresh air is pumped into unused portions of the mine and allowed to slowly disseminate throughout the tunnel system. This practice keeps the mine's climate uniform. The film and television industry recognized that the uniquely cool and dry atmosphere of the Hutchinson mine was perfect for film and sound archival decades ago. Today, UVS secures more film and sound elements than any other company in the Western hemisphere.