The tunnels of Pomona

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]

Regarding "Tunnels."

There is a strip mall on Holt Avenue that was once a very large high school (The original Pomona High School). The school burned down not long after I was born.

I don't know what is there now but at one time after the mall was constructed the tunnel system under that used to be under the school was still there. I think it's probably still there. There just might be some real goodies down there. The school was very similar to Chaffey High School in Ontario, CA. which also has a tunnel system.

Ronnie Case

A friend's grandparents' house in Pomona off ninth st and westmont ave has one cool bomb shelter. About 17ft deep we found a 12 x 10 room with a handcranked air filtering system that still works and electrical outlets. sand bags block entry to a tunnel. my friends' uncle told us the tunnel runs under mission blvd. where the old general dynamics buildings were developing rocket technology during the cold war. Pomona was at risk so tunnels were dug out probably for the GD employees which most lived with their families in the nearby neighborhood.

In regards to the tunnel across Holt avenue in front of Pomona High School.

I remember it well. It was very much still in use when I graduated from PHS in 1952. In case everyone has forgotten, Pomona High School was a grand red brick building on the south side of Holt between San Antonio Street and Paloma St. The north side of Holt across from the school was not a parking lot. Located there were the Ebell Clubhouse and several small businesses including (I think) several restaurants.

There were stairs leading down from the sidewalk on each side of Holt so you could go down and walk under the street. It did not run all the way to the school building proper. It simply allowed us kids to avoid the traffic. I suspect it was probably simply filled in with dirt and is probably still under there.

Yes there are tunnels that go from North to South Foothill Blvd in Upland to Holt Blvd in Ontario California. Then East to West from Mountain Ave to Grove Ave. They go 3-5 levels into the earth. I know this because I used to work in the Auditorium at Chaffey High School and found a map.

Underneath the basement is a stairway thay curls like a submarine stairway. Each entrance has nuclear fallout shelter signs. These signs can be seen around most buildings at Chaffey.

Also my friends and I used to go into the tunnels underneath the gym at Chaffey H.S. We were able to go 3 levels below the basement. There was a map that showed as I described from above. Dust covered the floor very thick. No foot prints indicated to me no one had been down there for ages. This was visible in the first level and by the entrances.

I think it has been forgotten about. If you go to the Ontario Library you may find the plans. These appear to be built during around the missile crisis. However I think they are older. Probably started back in 1920s when the school was being finished as construction started as early as 1895. We went in these tunnels a few times.

Now here's where it gets weird. On one occasion my friends and I traveled one tunnel about a quarter mile or so on the third level. Many rooms filled with old C-Rations (army food) and canned water from the 60s. Old bunks. This place was meant to house the entire city in case a war broke out. The old bunks were falling apart from gravity. Doors falling off hinges. There were motion sensor lights that lite the halls but the further we got it was totally dark. Why there was power down there I don't know.

We left because we heard strange noises and saw a creature standing about 5-6 feet tall at the end of a long hall. It appeared to be an demon of some sort or ET. I do believe these tunnels are infested with them now. If you don't believe that part that is fine but the rest of the info is correct. We left screaming. Don't go down there because you cannot get a cell or radio signal down there. The things down there can kill you. Don't ever go BEWARE.

I think the city government will deny these exist to protect whatever is living down there, these of which I believe are ETs or demonic. More likely the government forgot these tunnels even existed.

Yes, there are tunnels that travel up Euclid Ave. in Ontario CA. The sealed entrance to one of these tunnels is still there near the southeast corner of Holt Blvd. right in front of the museum.

When I attended Chaffey HS for about a month back in 1986, people had told me about the tunnels under the gym and one person even showed me an area that was fenced off where you could actually get a small glimpse of the underground area; I recall seeing part of the rear end of what appeared to me a military vehicle.

A neighbor of mine back then who was a retired Civil Service worker told me that the tunnels were, in fact, real and that they traveled up Euclid to Chaffey HS, then to Chaffey College, and then all the way to the now closed Norton AFB in San Bernardino CA. I don't know about any "demons" or "ETs" down there, but I do know that for many years Ontario has had a problem with heavy methamphetamine abusers who were battling with their own "inner demons"; despite this, the tunnels ARE real.

[Thanks, Endgame. Chaffey College used to be on the Chaffey High campus, and so I think that part of your narrative is wrong. The tunnels likely stopped there. I can't believe tunnels continued miles and miles to the east! But your firsthand info is intriguing. -- DA]