The first time I went down in the steam tunnels, I was horrified. (By the way, I recently ran across some video of this excursion and it’s quite entertaining. Many thanks to my companions, both loyal readers!) I’m afraid the tunnels aren’t at all as glamorous as they sound. Dirty, dark, cobwebby, tight, full of pipes, in some places dripping with moisture–I shuddered a bit and wondered what else might be down there with us.
I didn’t expect this:
It was during Hell Week in 1956, which I believe was the last one.
Bonus: As long as we’re talking about master plans and deviations therefrom, here’s the first one:
Can you em-biggen the Cram plan?
Ugh. I was afraid of that. It’s not my scan. I’ll put up a bigger one on Monday.
Pan ‘n’ zoom here: http://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/63443 (click on the top link)
That’s a quite different version of the plan than in Melissa’s copy. Which one is older?
Melissa’s is probably older. This one claims to be 1910/1911. I thought it was the same, but clearly it’s not.
They’re two iterations of the same idea–the one the Marty linked to is the one that was actually adopted. (It’s also the one I meant to post.) There’s yet another one, even stranger, with lots of loops and circles. I’ll dig it out when I have a chance.
I note that the Cram plan clearly shows those areas of the campus which were bought last. When is it dated?
That was one lucky little alligator, because there wasn’t much to eat in the steam tunnels when I was there. Not even roaches.
When I was growing up, that blank spot on University had cows running on it. Of course so did the spot where the Astrodome and Reliant are.
You’re right Walter. You have to kind of wonder what he ate. I never saw any real wild life in my jaunts in the steam tunnels.
There were cats using the tunnel between Allen Center and Baker Kitchen as a dining area.