Stephanie Whelan
Staff Writer
Rumors circulate about the high school’s basement.
Senior Caleb Cowin said, “I heard the janitors have an underground gambling society.”
Senior Deante Inge said, “I heard there is an old pool down there.”
While some students have heard rumors, some have never heard anything about the basement at all and never even knew there was one.
Senior Va’Neshia Doss said, “The school was built on an Indian burial ground, so there’s Indian graves down there, and I heard that some girl drowned in the pool down there. That’s why they shut it down.”
Actually, the original coal burning furnaces were located under the auditorium. Those were shut off because coal burning furnaces had asbestos, a health hazard. Now, since the furnaces were removed, the air conditioning equipment is down there.
The furnace is under the steps on the band side of the auditorium. It’s not the safest part of the building because it is the oldest standing part of the building right now, the school having opened in 1927.
The choir side stairs go down to what used to be the old girls’ locker room. There are little lockers down there and restrooms and showers that have not been used in a long time.
Further back is a tunnel tall enough to stand in that connects to where the custodians have their area with a refrigerator and microwave, not an underground gambling society.
Those are the main parts to the basement, but under the hallway by the library, students can see a trap door on the floor.
Under that hatch are crawl tunnels and all the steam pipes and gas connections for the cafeteria, but a person cannot stand up in these tunnels as they are about three feet tall and the sides are concrete. Only the custodians go down there to do maintenance.
About the old pool downstairs, alumni relations director Pat Voss laughed and said, “Never had a pool, never ever ever had a pool.” It amazed her that students think that.
