The tunnels of Pomona
Renee Shoopman left this comment on an old posting recently, and while I'm pleased she was catching up on my "pies past" entry, I don't think anyone is likely to see her question there. So here it is:
"I have lived and worked in Pomona off and on for many years and think parts of downtown are mystic. I knew and worked for former owners of the Mayfair lounge. There was a story about an escape tunnel that ran underground from the basement of the Mayfair building to somewhere by the railroad tracks. Used by bootlegers and cheating husbands. Has anyone ever heard this story?"
Anyone able to confirm or deny?
The rumor of tunnels under the streets, often for illicit purposes, seems to be common in various cities and I tend to be skeptical. However, I was impressed to learn from the Ontario Planning Department a couple of years back that there were tunnels under the buildings on the east side of Euclid Avenue, to aid in deliveries and, if memory serves, bank deposits. So maybe there was more going on underground that you'd think.
We had heard that there was an underground tunnel between the Mayfair and the Fox under Garey Ave. However, we've been assured that tunnel just doesn't exist.
But it was romantic while it lasted.
Great film potential here. Maybe we could get Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep to reprise their roles in "Bridges of Madison County," only grittier, not to mention older.
... Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway?
[Your role for Dunaway makes me think the movie should end with someone saying, "Forget it, Jake, it's P-town." -- DA]
And in Claremont . . . under the football field at Pomona College. A door below the south side of the field (at about the 10-yard line) opens to a tunnel that passes completely under the field, so that when you get to the end, you are looking out of a storm drain at curb level on 6th Street. Last time I looked, the door was locked, but in the '50s and '60s we could get right in. There doesn't seem to be any purpose for the tunnel, it simply runs from one side of the field to the other.
[Tunnels are so cool, they don't require a purpose. -- DA]
there once was a tunnel that went under holt, this would allow students to cross holt from the old pomona high school.
[I think there was a parking lot on the north side of the street. The school was on the south. We could also mention the tunnel under White Avenue that leads to the Fairgrounds. Walking through it is akin to the excitement of going to the Hollywood Bowl. -- DA]
Tunnels are similar to underground vaults. What's Geraldo Rivera doing these days?
Speaking of the Fair, when they had the stage on the tarmac, inside the grandstand, it too had a tunnel. All the dressing rooms were underneath the grandstand (still are), and a tunnel led underneath the tarmac to the stage. But when they redid the racetrack back in the 80's, they removed the stage. I'm not entirely sure if they filled up the tunnel or not.
If you watch the movie "That Thing You Do" you will see glimpses of those dressing rooms.
As a young kid going to the Friday night high school football games at Mt. Sac we would run up and down the large concrete embankments and then get to the tunnel that separated the parking lot from the entrance to the stadium.
After the games when the opposing fans would walk back to their cars a lot of cheering and hollering would go on.
And of course the famous tunnels on Mt. Baldy Road that still hear the car horns of the past.
GREETINGS:
Two quick comments. There is a tunnel system that runs underneath the Chaffey High School campus. I remember reading past stories on how it connects several buildings (and probably relate to the time when the Ontario campus was home to both the high school and the college).
Second, I can recall a wonderful moment involving the tunnel at Merritt Field. At halftime of a Sagehen football game, the band was performing on the field. The announcer then said that, in best "David Copperfield" fashion, the band would disappear in right front of our eyes.
As I remember, they had each member (it was a small group) walk into an area that had been curtained off. Suddenly, the curtain was opened and -- wow -- NO BAND!
Moments later you could hear the band playing from somewhere outside the stadium. Even though I knew what they'd done, I still thought it made for a wonderful halftime show.
CHIRP!
I've been told by longtime residents of Pomona that there is a tunnel under the Mayfair Hotel. However, it runs under Garey Ave. to the Fox Theatre. "Back in the day" it was used by celebrities as a means to access the backstage area of the Fox without being mobbed by fans. Makes sense. These same celebrities would also have been staying at the Mayfair.
[See John Clifford's comment above. He says the tunnel doesn't exist. -- DA]