The “rat hole” has disappeared.
A Chicago sidewalk monument that some residents affectionately called the “rat hole” was removed Wednesday after city officials determined the section bearing an animal print was damaged and needed to be replaced, officials said .
The footprint has been an oddity of a residential building in Chicago’s North Roscoe Village neighborhood for years, but it found new fame in January after a Chicago comedian shared a photo on the social media platform X .
However, attention quickly shifted to neighbors complaining about visitors at all hours, sometimes leaving coins and other items strewn on the sidewalk. Additionally, most local residents claim that the print was actually caused by a squirrel.
Erica Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Transportation, said the square of sidewalk “containing the infamous ‘Chicago rat hole'” is now in temporary storage.
She said where the sidewalk slab, which has an impression resembling the outline of a rat — claws, tail and all — will end up should be a “collaborative decision between city departments and the mayor’s office.” .
Schroeder said the rat hole section, along with other portions of sidewalk along Roscoe Street in North Chicago, were removed by Department of Transportation crews Wednesday morning after the agency inspected them and determined that they needed to be replaced due to damage.
Georgina Ulrich, a neighbor, filmed crews using a concrete saw, a forklift and finally a truck to remove the slab and drive it away.
“All this for a rat print,” Ulrich said in one of the clips.
New concrete was poured later Wednesday, Schroeder said.
The now-viral Chicago “rathole” has taken the internet by storm and garnered national attention, but it seems the name isn’t as apt as it seems.
“The alderman’s office has definitely received complaints from neighbors about gatherings of people and people placing a bunch of different items on the public roadway,” she told the Associated Press.
Ald. Scott Waguespack’s office had been receiving complaints for several months, both about the unevenness of that part of the sidewalk and about people gathering there to look at and photograph the rat hole, Paul Sajovec, chief of staff, said Wednesday. from Waguespack.
“It was just a combination of the sidewalk being uneven and also the fact that people were coming at different times of the day and night and making a lot of noise and creating other problems,” he said .
In January, someone filled the rat hole with a material resembling white plaster, although the print was quickly dug up by fans, the Chicago Tribune reported at the time.
Winslow Dumaine, a Chicago resident, told the newspaper that people living nearby said the footprint had been there for nearly two decades.
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Callahan reported from Indianapolis.
NBC Chicago
