Tunnelers say that graffiti splatters the curved steel walls from ceiling to floor. Scrawled in orange and red spray paint - and readable only with a flashlight - sayings like "Satan lives here" line the inside of the University's steam tunnels. "To Football Stadium," with accompanying arrows, points explorers to Scott Stadium.
The maze of steam tunnels that runs beneath Grounds spans miles under the areas where students walk daily. By day they prompt hardly a thought in the back of many people's minds. But every so often, the tunnels become a playground of sorts for those intrepid adventurers who call themselves "tunnelers."
Tunnel exploration is fraught with risks. A steam leak could cause a scalding injury. If you're caught down there, you might have a date with the University Police.
"If people didn't know they were there, so much the better," said Garth Anderson, a historian in the University Resource Center. The tunnels are "always a difficult subject. At times they have been a recreational activity, even a place for homeless to hang out."
According to Anderson, the steam tunnels evolved out of what was a centralized heating system for the University. Covering a fraction of the area the tunnels cover now, the original pipes were much less intriguing than the current tunnels.
"They weren't tunnels to begin with," Anderson said. "They were just pipes and the like. They went all the way back to where the Rotunda is now."
As the University grew, so did the underground heating network.
"Boilers produce steam transferred by tunnels to buildings around Grounds," said Earl Ward, who works in Facilities Planning and Construction. "As the system expanded, so did the tunnels."
Risky Business
There is at least one group of students who has not only made it in and out of the tunnels successfully, but has done so on many different occasions.
"We go once a semester as tradition," third-year College student Justin Ferira said of his tunneling clan. "Its interesting, you're just wandering around in the dark with your flashlight."
There is a certain excitement in wandering the labyrinth of tunnels. And almost as exhilarating as sneaking into them is discovering where they lead, the Chemistry building and Scott Stadium among several choice destinations.
"You can pop up on the club level, up where the concession stands are in the football stadium," Ferira said. "We went down there and as a group we did the 100-yard dash there and back along the football field naked. We 'struck' the football field. The cops showed up for that one."
According to tunnelers, the University Police force presents one of the biggest obstacles to their stealthy activity. During their nightly Grounds patrol, they can happen upon tunnelers who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"We came up right in front of Thornton and everything was fine, this cop just drove by and looked," Ferira said. "It was sort of suspicious because we were all wearing shorts in December. My roommate does this Irish-heel-click-jump thing to celebrate that the cop had gone by and he was looking in his rear-view mirror, so the cop came back."
After finally rounding up all the students who had escaped from the tunnel, the officer lectured them about the dangers of tunneling, Ferira said.
Many students don't realize just how much could go wrong in the tunnels' dark depths.
"If you walk into a steam leak, it will cut your skin like a knife," Ward said. "A high-pressure steam leak can't be seen."
The threat of high pressure steam leaks has prompted Facilities Management, as well as University Police, to intensify efforts to keep students out.
"They've had to secure all of [the entrances] with all sorts of gates and locks," Anderson said. "It's because of the thought of some sort of problem in there. Medium pressure steam is over 212 degrees, and there is high pressure steam going through the tunnels. It's just not a place for people to be."
Asbestos also lurks in some of the older tunnels, Anderson said.
But those factors don't prevent maintenance workers from going in and out of the tunnels. "These people hold certificates and are journeymen or masters in their particular trade and they have full respect of everything that's down there," Anderson said.
Just Gotta Do It
Regardless of the potential consequences, some students won't give up their tunneling ways.
"It's fun, you feel like you're getting away from the world for a little while," said third-year College student David Buckley, a member of Ferira's tunneler group. "Its kind of like going for a hike in the woods except you don't have to drive all the way out to Humpback Rock."
Amid the clamor of machinery and stifling heat, that "hike" is no picnic.
"It's hot, it's dark, it's cramped. It can be a little bit uncomfortable at times," Buckley added. "You usually go through a tunnel and it'll be really narrow for a little while and then it'll open up a little bit so you can stand up and take a break.
Buckley said it's easy to get disoriented in the tunnels. "Your concept of space totally changes because you think you've been under there forever and you pop your head up and you're like 'Man, I've gone from O-Hill to the Chem Building.'"
Tunnelers say the driving forces behind their expeditions are the hope of finding a new route and the excitement of traveling through the unknown.
This adventurous spirit motivates not only University students, but also local teenagers to try to gain access to the tunnels. Anderson said that he has turned away many a "researcher" who has claimed to need a map of the tunnels for a project.
The tunnels still serve the University as a heating system. On cold days, the grate in the sidewalk running in front of the Commerce school pumps out a welcome burst of heat to scurrying passers-by.
But for some tradition-minded students, the tunnels are more than a source of heat. To them, exploring the tunnels is akin to streaking the Lawn, and they refuse to abandon the ritual
"We're very careful," Buckley said. "We don't drink before we go down there, we go down there in large groups, and the person who's in front is always really careful, to listen in case there's a steam leak or something that you don't want to walk in front of, because those are the scary stories that you always hear."
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