The cafeteria at the Federal Reserve Bank in Charlotte plans to reopen next week, after closing because of a rat infestation earlier this week.

A spokesman for the bank, Adam PiIlsbury, says the cafeteria will reopen to uptown workers if the problem is resolved.

Mike Seifert with The Pest Control Authority told The Charlotte Observer construction has sent the rats up from the sewers to nearby buildings.

City and county officials said they were unaware of a rat problem at the Federal Reserve, nor anywhere else downtown.

But pest control experts who work the area say construction in the past few years has frequently led to rats coming to the surface. Seifert says he's watched the rat population increase along with the human population uptown over the past seven years.