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'Tunnel' found during excavation of JEA headquarters site turns out to be literal dead end

Construction contractors initially excited to have unearthed a mystery tunnel discover a "fairly mundane" explanation.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Construction crews excavating the site of the future JEA headquarters in downtown Jacksonville found what initially appeared to be a mystery tunnel this weekend. 

Aerial images show a darkened entranceway at the center of the block bordered by Pearl, Adams, Julia and Monroe streets —  site of the old George Washington Hotel, once city’s only 5-star hotel. 

Mike Harryman, senior project executive with Ryan Company, the project contractor, said when crews "initially crack[ed] it open ... you think, 'What do we have here? It's a tunnel! Where does it lead?'"

But crews eventually realized it the "tunnel" is merely the north end of a basement from a previous building.

"It ends," Harryman said. "We were all like 'wah-wah.' Sorry, nothing too exciting."

Jacksonville used to have a network of tunnels, built by banks in the early part of the last century to transport cash from vaults to bank customers. Little remains of the underground pathways, but a few segments are still used. A short stretch from 121 Atlantic Place to the BB+T Bank building even once held popular deli, located inside a bank vault.

Even without an underground passage, the George Washington Hotel had underworld connections. Ennis Davis, an urban planner and founder of thejaxsonmag.com, said in the early '60s the hotel was purchased by “Big Bill” Johnston, who owed Jacksonville’s dog track and had ties to Al Capone’s Chicago mob.   

Credit: Ennis Davis
This Sanborn Company map shows location of the old George Washington Hotel, with the pen pointing to the location of the recently excavated tunnel.

Although this latest "tunnel" turned out to be a literal dead end, Davis said the city has a few mysterious subterranean stretches, including the basement level of the Hildebrandt Building, directly across Adams from the JEA excavation site. 

Davis said the space extends beneath the sidewalk on Julia Street, and while it can be accessed by a concrete door in the sidewalk, he says it feels as remote and creepy as a horror movie setting. 

“It's 'Saw-level' scary," he said. 

 

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