Hannah Koch (284)

The question ponders among Central High School students: “Is there a tunnel connecting Central and Girls’ High?” It is one of the various questions Central’s Archivist, David Kahn (220), is asked on a daily basis. I am next in a long line of students with the same inquiry, and as he did for the countless before me, he responded playfully, “I am sworn to secrecy.” 

This is not the first article of its kind. Mr. Kahn recalls a student writing something similar in a Centraliar article some twelve years ago, but twelve years is a long time. It’s once again time to address the tunnels. Despite his refusal to give a direct answer, Central’s Historian gave his own list of explanations for the origin of the tunnel. 

Central’s current school building was built in 1937, while the present-day Girls’ High building up the street was built twenty years later. His hypothesis relates to the so-called “tunnel range” from a perpetually locked door underneath the auditorium’s stage, to a now bricked-over entrance residing in a tunnel covering the driveway at the middle wing that was torn down during reconstruction a few years ago. 

There is one part of this mystery that isn’t up for debate: Central DOES have tunnels. On a class “field trip” to the school’s boiler room, I saw with my own eyes the short tunnels that were used to transport coal from the parking lot into the furnaces. But that still begs the question, are there longer tunnels? Maybe tunnels long enough to travel underground two blocks west on Olney Avenue? 

Mr. Kahn wrote me an amusing story from his youth, describing a quaint luncheonette replaced by the popular Chinese takeout restaurant that stands there today. As Mr. Kahn puts it, “It is said that originally, [the tunnel] connected to the basement of 1620 West Olney Avenue.” He describes how the school administration would raid the place twice a semester, searching for students who snuck out to have a bite to eat. Despite how hard they tried, no one was ever caught. Did these stealthy students sneak out the back door, or perhaps was there another way back to school? If this story is true, one might assume there could be a connection between this pre-existing tunnel and Girls’ High.

The sad truth is that we may never truly know if there is a tunnel between Central High and Girls’ High. But something tells me that’s how things are meant to be. Every incoming freshman hears a variation of the same two tales: the fifth-floor pool and the tunnel. It has become a beloved part of Central High School’s history and culture, and it will continue to be so for many coming classes.

A group of unassuming students walking into one of the coal tunnels in the boiler room (apologizes for the quality, it’s a screenshot of a video – somehow I overlooked the need for actual pictures)

A sub basement in the boiler room was previously used as a fallout shelter