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There's something to be said about mysteries.
The incredible allure of the unknown
fascinates us all.
Some people spend their whole lives wondering
whether such unknowns exist,
while others go about their daily routines
oblivious to the secrets around them.
If you were given an opportunity to uncover
an age-old myth, would you take it?
Would you discover the truth?
Yes, I know several myths.
I've heard little bits...
I'm afraid not.
You know, I've been aware of that...
I know some pretty...
Yeah, there's tons of myths here.
...rumored myths about housing
and stuff like that.
But the Sunken Gardens...
Uh, you know, the tunnel in the Garden
is, of course, the big one.
In 1928, on a bluff overlooking West Los Angeles
and the Pacific Ocean, construction crews began
on a new Jesuit school.
Land was promised to the fledgling
Loyola University if two structures could be built
within twelve months.
In 1929, construction was completed.
Those buildings were named St. Robert's
and Xavier Hall
Not long after I got here,
I discovered those tunnels.
You know, it's kinda hard to tell
what their purpose could be.
I mean, I don't know why a Catholic school
would have tunnels under...
I heard that in Washington, Seattle
they have tunnels under
one of the Lutheran Schools under there,
because it's cold.
Underground labernyth
under the Sunken Gardens
and that there's a dead minotaur
lying in that labernyth.
Labyrinth? Yeah, labyrinth.
I can't imagine why there would be tunnels,
maybe sewage, maintenance...
1929 was a time of secrets and intrigue.
Less than a decade earlier,
the prohibition of alcohol was signed in to law
and bootlegging now thrived
all along the western seaboard.
Rumors of a cross-campus tunnel emerged
almost instantly among Loyola's new students
and the rumor has endured to this day.
I feel like it's purpose is probably practical
for whatever reason it was made.
I doubt it's anything like secretive or like shady.
I don't know what Jesuit could fit down there.
It's pretty tight.
Um, unless they stuck a whole bunch of them
in the microwave and shrinky-dinked them
to fit down there...I don't think it would work.
It's obvious that these were mechanical vaults
that connected St. Robert's and Xavier Hall.
Like I said, the Jesuits get up to a lot of things.
I heard during the Cold War, they made the tunnel
because of like bomb threats
and the Cuban Missile Crisis and stuff like that.
I don't know...
Maybe during the Prohibition Era that they'd
use it to hide alcohol, you know, for communion.
I heard that the tunnels were used to escape
Japanese prisoners during the Manzanar time.
I feel like it was probably just a measure
they took just for some safety thing
during the 60s, I bet. I don't know though.
Even among those who claim to know the true
nature of these supposed underground vaults
There is still much speculation as to
their existence or purpose.
Is it possible that the myth of the tunnel exists
only in rumors and university lore?
The university archives may hold the answer.
These two buildings, when they were built
up here on the bluff, it was felt at that time
and air conditioning wasn't really perfected yet
but, in the wintertime you needed to heat it
and the boiler system that was used to heat
both St. Robert's and Xavier Hall
was the ducts were conducted underground
in these huge, large chambered vaults.
Upon examination of some of the few
construction photos remaining
from 1928 and 1929, troughs and
foundation frames can clearly be seen.
But only one photo, buried deep in the archives
shows evidence of a tunnel running away
from Xavier Hall in the direction of St. Robert's
Is this proof of the existence of the elusive tunnel
Or yet another false lead
in the search for the truth?
Funny thing about mysteries...
throughout the course of time,
the truth tends to slowly slip away...