| | Northwestern’s steam tunnels have been a staple of campus lore for decades, a mystery even to those few who have explored the murky halls. Legends about secret societies, renegade activists, and even administrative conspirators utilizing the furtive tunnels are whispered behind closed doors, exaggerated further with each telling. Some insist the tunnels were built to sneak out administrators in case students began to riot, while others claim that Tech uses the tunnels to secretly transport classified equipment from their restricted access fifth floor. Patches of newer, rougher concrete show filled in passages, formerly leading to entire networks of more tunnels, possibly even underground rooms. With over five and a half miles of underground passages, imaginative students will never lack a reason to revere the mysterious tunnels.
Northwestern isn’t the only school with a tunnel system. In fact, over 60 universities across the U.S. are rumored to have similar underground passageways. Using the internet as a medium, the sport of what enthusiasts call “Urban Exploration” has grown immensely in the past decade. Now, renegade enthusiasts have utilized the internet to form entire communities of tunnelers, eager to swap information, maps, and advice. It’s all surprisingly easy to find. After only minutes of searching, one can pull up a detailed map of the famed Northwestern tunnels, complete with entry points and tunnel descriptions.
Officially, the tunnels are strictly for maintenance. The purpose of these underground passages is to transport pipes, cables, and heat, not people, throughout campus. Assistant Chief Daniel McAleer of University Police told the Daily Northwestern that the tunnels were very elaborate and not intended for public use. "The tunnels lead all
over campus," he said. "They can be very dangerous because they're carrying steam and utilities." Risks of tunneling include dehydration, burns, asbestos inhalation, and steam leaks. Though rare, a small leak in a highly pressurized pipe can be powerful enough to pierce skin if you get too close. Despite these concerns, the fear of getting caught is what dominates the minds of most tunnelers. Those daring enough to venture underground risk severe punishment from the university if caught in the act. Suspension or even expulsion can be the price for trespassing in the tunnels. Though the administration may try to discourage adventurous students, the tunnel’s secrets are just too enticing for some, as curious rebels still venture below ground every year.
It’s easy to see how students can get sucked into the mystique, but faculty? Why not? One NU professor tagged along with a group of adventurous Willard residents and sought out the mystery himself.
The professor, who preferred not to give his name, writes “At lunch, at various times tunneling would come up. I once said, ‘I’d like to see what was under there,’ so nothing more was said. Weeks and weeks and weeks passed, and I got this phone call and the voice said, ‘We’re going down!’… Fifteen people were there – fifteen of Willard's more seedy types. I thought about backing out, but that felt like a total wimp thing to do so I stayed with.”
The professor and the gang of intrepid (if a bit crazy) students decked out in camouflage planned to enter a section of the tunnels through a grate in one of the many lower levels of Tech. To sneak in undetected, though, was a bit more complicated. The custodial staff of Tech still roams the halls, even after the students have all gone. Luckily, the tunnelers had done their homework.
“They had maps and this person, Brian, took charge, and they had plotted the movements of the custodian who was probably totally smashed out on marijuana or whatever and therefore was in a total comatose state, would push the floor polisher. They had his movements exactly down, how many minutes it would take him to go from one end of Tech to the another… We would go in groups, ‘phalanxes’ we were called, and he rushed over there, took out the bolts, and popped open the grate to get down inside.”
After wandering around for “a good hour and a half,” the crew wasn’t about to end the night there.
“So, not satisfied with this, we went down to the lower ones, where you have to get in from outside manholes,” the professor recalled. “We searched around and found one. Hooks were produced to pull out these manholes while one person held a flashlight.”
Unfortunately for the Professor, the students’ luck had just run out. They were spotted in the act and the rest, well…you know. As so many amazing nights do, this one ended at the police station.
“I was standing holding the flashlight over the hooks when we were apprehended by Public Safety. And everybody else, all my companions disappeared – they all just disappeared, leaving me! And I was standing there…and so it was: ‘Good evening, gentlemen. And what might you be doing here?’
The professor says, “They asked for the first two ID’s, and of course I had to produce mine, and there was this long silence as they looked at me and this faculty ID – ‘Is that yours?’ We were all in pretty scuzzy clothes and they were pretty grubby at this
point having crawled around in the dust and everything like that…So I identified myself and I was given this lecture about setting a bad example for these students – which I did not soon forget. But we hadn't gotten in and so it meant we were not guilty of any criminal trespassing. Well the whole crew was out there – enjoying this whole thing tremendously especially since I had been apprehended.”
And just like that, the “Great Tunneling Expedition” was over. The legend and mystery of the Northwestern tunnels, however, will never go away, and as long as people are fascinated with the unknown, the forbidden, and the mysterious, there will always be tunnelers.
Additional Resources: http://www.infiltration.org/college.htm
http://members.tripod.com/~tunnels/ctunnels.html http://www.urbanexplorers.net/schools/nwu/index.html
Do you like long, dark, damp places? So does Matt. Let him know he’s not alone at: m-cohlmia@northwestern.edu
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