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Going somewhere?
Tunnel system links University history, mystery
Above: The tunnel system connecting campus buildings is a source of curiosity for many students at the University. The tunnels, though wide spread, are not functional as pedestrian walkways. Right: The view through the door leading into the tunnel near facilities operations shows that the conditions inside are not meant for more than electrical wires and phone lines.
by lisa stevens john ● ljohn@kansan.com
COUNT 'EM
So now you know that there are about three miles of tunnels snaking under the campus. But what other measurements and lengths? Here is a sample of what folks keep track of:
*Land: 1,058 acres (main campus)*
*Parking lots: 75 acres*
Sidewalks: 25 miles
Curbs: 35 miles
Curbs: 35 miles Water lines: 15 miles
Gas lines: Two miles
Storm sewers: 15 miles
Sanitary sewers: 10 miles
Street light cable:
1.5 miles
Street lights: 900 polar
Fire hydrants: 100
Source: Facilities Operations
Note: All measurements may not be entirely accurate.
Mike Reid, manager of the KU Bookstores:
"When I was at Emporia State, they had the same system. That's where they'd go to try to hide away. It was a spooky place.
Here, I believe, it's locked up."
life lingers slow in the tunnels beneath the University of Kansas, oblivious to masses of footsteps and passage of time.
From the chancellor's residence to Allen Field House and all along Jayhawk Boulevard and beyond, an underground network of three miles of tunnels connects close to 90 buildings on the main campus, Bob Porter, associate director of facilities operations, said.
"How much do you know about the University's tunnel system, and what are your thoughts about it?"
"They virtually touch every building in one form or another," Porter said. "From most of the buildings, you can go from building to building without ever touching the ground."
But tunnel travel isn't for everyone.
"Our tunnels are actually a utility tunnel." Porter said. "They are not a pedestrian tunnel by any stretch of the imagination."
Some of the tunnels are seven feet wide,seven feet tall and welllighted,but others are extremely cold,dirty,wet and crumbly,Porter said.
The tunnels transport steam heat from the power plant, and carry primary electric cables, transmission lines for the telephone system and the main network that goes across campus, said.
Porter recently walked along a narrow concrete corridor that led to one of the out side entrances to a tunnel nestled in the hillside behind Stauffer-Flint Hall.
The smell of the tunnel was one of fresh cold winter air colliding into dusty air from a closed attic.
He turned a key in the lock of a heavy, steel grate door. As he tugged, the door's hinges groaned as if screeching for a drop of oil. The lower edge of the door shoved leaves out of the way. Though the tunnel was warmer than the frigid winter air out side, a cold draft still sifted down through the corrugated metal ceiling and whittled itsway between collars and backbones.
A 24-inch steam pipe took up nearly half of the five-foot wide tunnel. Ribbons of electric cables and telephone wires lined the other wall of the tunnel.
This particular section did not appear to be traversable, at least not without a good deal of squirming and squeezing to fit through narrow spaces.
One of the warmest areas to be on cold winter days is a tunnel that is accessible from indoors. What starts out as a modern concrete structure inside the lower level of Wescoe Hall yields to a 100-year-old, hand-dug tunnel with limestone walls, a redbrick arched ceiling and brick floors that lead toward Strong Hall to the north and Budig Hall to the west. The atmosphere imparts the feeling of being in the catacombs of Paris — the gloomy expansion continues as far as the eye can see.
During the late 1960s when anti-war riots were going on at the University, most of the facilities operations employees were deputized. They stood guard at tunnel entrances so that no one could sabotage the electrical and phone lines that run through the tunnels.
Porter, who has worked at facilities operations since 1954, said that all entrances to the tunnels now were locked to prevent vandalism.
On a lighter note, Porter recalled when the campus used to be decorated at Christmas. Pranksters would take down the colored Christmas light bulbs and screw them into the light sockets that illuminated the tunnels.
"They used to slip through the tunnels to get into basketball games for free, but they were caught." Keary said.
The tunnel has even served as a temporary residence for at least one person, Porter said. A few years ago, there was evidence that someone had set up house in one of the tunnels, having furniture, a pallet for a bed and food.
Sgt. Chris Keary, KU Public Safety office, said the tunnels have been the gateway for entry to basketball games. Students would pry the seat off the concrete bench/tunnel ventilator outside Allen Field House and enter the tunnel.
"We have a standing joke where we tell new employees that when you're down in the tunnel don't stop moving because if
Porter said the only inhabitants of the tunnels now were cockroaches — big ones three inches long and one inch wide.
you do the cockroaches will probably keep carrying you on through," Porter said. About 50 facilities operations employees are familiar with the tunnel system.
The depth of the tunnels varies, Porter said. Some of the tunnels are seven to 12 feet under the ground, and in some cases, sidewalks serve as the roofs to the tunnels. In a strip behind Lippincott Hall on Mississippi Street, a tunnel is so close to the ground that grass won't grow on it and so warm in the winter that snow melts off the area.
"We go through the tunnels at least once a week, and we check the equipment daily," he said.
Porter takes the tunnel system in stride. "The tunnels are probably not all that unique," he said. "Most cities have a network of steam tunnels that you can't see."
1. Pearson Hall
2. Carruth'O'Leary Hall
3. Spencer Research Library
4. Snow Hall
5. Strong Hall
6. Bailey Hall
7. Spencer Museum of Art
8. Kansas Union
9. Dyche Hall
10. Lippincot Hall
11. Spooner Hall
12. University Relations
13. Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall
14. Botany Research Library
15. Sprague Apartments
16. Battenfeld Scholarship Hall
17. Stephenson Scholarship Hall
18. Pearson Scholarship Hall
19. Fraser Hall
20. Watkins Scholarship Hall
21. Miller Scholarship Hall
22. Blake Annex rubble
23. Blake Hall
24. Twente Hall
25. Watson Library
26. Facilities Operations
27. Staffer-Flint Hall
28. Dole Center
29. Haworth Hall
30. Watkins Heath Center
31. Robinson Center
32. Summerfield Hall
33. Wescoe Hall
34. Budig Hall
35. Marvin Hall
36. Art and Design
37. Military Science
38. Murphy Hall
39. Learned Hall
40. Green Hall
41. Burge Union
42. Allen Field House
Illustration by Andi Rohrback/KANSAN
Amy Karr, Santa Cruz, Calif., junior:
"It makes me curious. If more people knew, more people would be exploring — they'd probably need guards again."
John Kepley,
Ulysses senior:
"I knew they were
rumored and there
were all sorts of
weird stories about
them."
Amanda Sanders,
Overland Park
sophomore:
"I never noticed
that there weren't
telephone lines on
campus."
Compiled by
Lisa Stevens John
and Laura Roddy/
KANSAN