On a vacation/anniversary trip, compliments of our “boys and their families,” nearly two years ago, we took a tour of the city of “Hot Springs” and heard the story about “tunnels” under their city. The tour information stated that the Arch and Tunnel system was painstakingly and classically crafted; it was actually designed to safely carry stormwaters/floodwaters away from and out of the city proper. It also was used for other, more “hidden” things!
Later, doing a little research, I found that there are tunnels under many U. S. cities. Boston, MA (abandoned subway tunnels and structures); Chicago, IL (cable-car and freight tunnels); Detroit, MI (secret “escape tunnels” from the Motor City “Speak-easies,” some leading to churches!); Indianapolis, IN (series of “catacombs,” used as cold storage for “perishables” before there was refrigeration); Louisville, KY (tunnels that acted as storage for Lakeland Asylum for the Insane, defense shelters, and even possibly an escape route from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s President’s house to an undisclosed campus building); Portland, OR (tunnels that were the “Portland Underground” that enabled folks to operate illegal hiring practices (kidnapping slaves and forcing them to work and transporting them); Salt Lake City, UT (a nice subterranean web work that unites LDS Church buildings and allows parishioners and workers to avoid bad weather and supposedly to secretly allow church leaders access to the Salt Palace Convention Center and to the city/county building.) I could go on, but I am tired of studying and then “typing” and then proofing—and you have gotten the idea by now!
So, on to the OFFICIAL STORY of this article— Dallas’s supposed underground life that I can still recall “looking into” in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I THINK!
DALLAS, TEXAS (rail transport tunnels that supposedly carried “hooch” to the “University Club” during Prohibition and also Pedestrian Tunnels to shield shoppers from the blazing hot summer sun)—this was like many of the above and others that I did not detail. But, this is not the main point of this article!
The whole “new” “tunnels” was begun in the late 1960s, and I can vaguely recall going into the area once or twice to eat and look around. I never found a store (Yes, there were quite a few.) in which I wanted to purchase anything, but I wasn’t rich then, yet!
I don’t remember where I entered, but apparently one place pedestrians can still do so is the Comerica Bank Tower on Main. Take the escalator!
Supposedly, there either was, or was going to be, more than one underground level, and cars and people were supposed to be separated! Entrances were planned for several office buildings, and it was a “big ol’ place” in which to walk around and stare.
During the 1980s, I can remember my Dallas friends still talking about how the “mall” or “tunnels” would continue to expand and be an area where workers or visitors could come and stay all day and play most of the night and not ever have to leave the confines of some building!
I never did like the idea—somewhat claustrophobic, I guess I was and still am! My idea of shopping and visiting is more like 1st Monday in Canton! And I suppose many (most?) folks felt the same way, because this grand venture never did really reach fruition!
Still, periodically, some one or some enterprise has a grand idea to re-vitalize the “mall” and make a fortune, but also periodically, some city leader has the idea to “fill in” all the underground areas!
I have been told and have read that some areas of the “tunnels” are so abandoned (Thanksgiving Square area) and empty that it is like a “derelict” building—but much nicer and in better shape!
A recent posting I read said that the Renaissance Tower area (Elm Street) has many different retail options and is busier than the streets above!
I have also ascertained that the businesses and, I would guess, the “buildings” inside the “tunnels” are privately owned and operated.
And, I have decided that when the PANDEMIC is a thing of the past and I have “drawered” the mask my wife sewed for me, I will pull out my trusty “flip phone” and call the Powers, Rouvaldts, Criswells, Rigbys, Pruets, Kendall and Nathan, Jeff and Darrell, and two or three other folks who have Chevy Suburbans or large vans and “make it a day and night” at the TUNNELS of DALLAS! Get your tickets soon!
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