Legendary LDS Underground Tunnel?

Is this one of the "secret" underground tunnels that connect the LDS Temple to various church owned properties like the Church Office Building (shown here above the tunnel)?

It's been reported that Marie Osmond used a tunnel to get to and from the Salt Lake Temple for at least one of her weddings so that she could avoid the paparazzi (LOL!). Maybe it's not that big of a secret really, but it still makes for intriguing Mormon folklore.

Lighthouse Ministries, a Christian non-profit organization that provides critical research and documentation on the LDS Church provides the following:

There are tunnels under temple square in downtown Salt Lake. They were started in 1889, at first to connect the temple with the annex building next door (see "The Journal of L. John Nuttall," Tues. July 23, 1889, New Mormon Studies) and later expanded to other buildings.

These enabled LDS leaders to walk back and forth from their offices to the temple without being in public. That way someone could go from the Joseph Smith building (the old Hotel Utah) to the temple without walking out in public.

The LDS Church security guards have offices under temple square. In the book Salt Lake City Underfoot, by Mark Angus, we read:

Between the Assembly Hall and Tabernacle [on the Salt Lake City Temple Square], against the west wall, is the Nauvoo Bell. ... Rest rooms are located to the south of the bell, behind the Assembly Hall. North of the bell, just past the Tabernacle, is an entrance to underground tunnels where LDS security offices are located and church leaders are provided safe passage among downtown buildings (p.8).

In the article "Inside the Salt Lake Temple: Gisbert Bossard's 1911 Photographs," by Kent Walgren, is a 1911 map of the northern portion of Temple Square showing the underground tunnels (see Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol.29, No.3, Fall 1996).

In a news article published in Sunstone, 1987, we read about the tunnels that connect the various buildings in downtown Salt Lake:

SUN SPOTS
When I was a young person, in the 1940's-1950's, you could go down a stairwell on the southwest corner of temple square and walk through a tunnel under the road to the other side of the street, coming up in front of the Hotel Utah, which is now a church office building. There were others of these in the city. These were similar to the subway stairs in New York. I assume there were connecting doors down there leading to other tunnels, but the only path open to the public was the one to enable you to get from one side of the street to the other.

If anyone can illuminate on this topic further, please leave your comments.

Comments

[Ethan]

A friend's dad gave me a tour of the Tabernacle that included rooms underneath and the tunnels.

The tunnels were long carpeted hallways. Some people were on foot, some in golf carts. It was years ago so I'm a little fuzzy, but I think I walked all the way from the Church Office Building to the Tabernacle and back.

The tunnels were amazingly boring. The word "tunnel" sounds cool, but these were not fun at all. The only cool part was that some people rode golf carts. But we didn't have a cart. The maze of rooms under the tabernacle was way more interesting.

[Jesse Walker]

that's what many people are telling me. it's too bad. leave it to these guys to make anything even slightly interesting into whitebread.

[Ethan]

They should throw in some spider webs and skeletons and make part of the tunnel partially collapse when you walk past it.

Now that would be a cool tunnel. But from a management standpoint it could be bad because all the employees would spend their time exploring the tunnels and not a their desks.

[chris]

the tunnels are really there. i have been in them many times as a child and teenager. however, they aren't as mysterious or dramatic as they sound. they are lighted, air-conditioned and carpeted. they all used to branch off of the parking lot. if you wanted to go from one building to another, you'd have to go through parking lot on pedestrian walkways.

i bet you in the past they were more catacomb-ish -- they probably built the parking lot around the original tunnels and upgraded them with modern amenities in the last 50-60 years.

as far as i knew, the tunnels went to the administration bldg. (the prophet's HQ), the main office building, the relief society building, the JSB (hotel utah), the tabernacle and the temple. and of course once the Meganacle was built, i'm sure one went there too. however, i'm not sure about any other buildings they went to. i vaguely remember that one went to the Lion House (brigham young's mansion and now a restaurant and wedding reception house), but i don't remember that one too clearly -- i can find out however :)

[Matt]

I was on a tunnel kick there for a while and went around exploring what tunnels I could find in the Salt Lake Valley. A pretty popular tunnel is the old (early 1900s) tunnel that runs from the City and County building across the street to the new County library. The library was built where the old county jail used to be. The tunnel was used to safely transport convicted criminals from the courts in the City and County building across the street to the jail. I believe they used it for utilities and such as well. They have replaced this tunnel with a new cement tunnel that still goes across the street, but is far less creepy.
There are also tunnels connecting the Boston and Newhouse buildings as well as the Commercial Club and the Exchange. Most of these were steam tunnels but were also used for other various things. There used to be tunnels running up state street from the City and County building up towards temple square. One used to run under the Alpha graphics building before it was redone. Remnants of the tunnels from the city and county building that go south can still be seen, but they are sealed.

I have some pictures of some of the tunnels Im talking about here: http://www.mattlarsen.com/image/tid/14

[Mr. Jesse Walker]

thanks for the info Matt. those pics are super cool! i wonder if you might have time to tag some of them if you remember which areas they are in or under. either way, i like!!!

[Matt]

Ok, I have updated the descriptions on most of the pictures and noted their locations. I have even bumped some of them up to the home page. Enjoy!

[KR]

I heard a tunnel ran from Red Lion hotel or maybe it's something else now to the Salt Palace?

[Michael]

It's funny how often I hear about the "legendary" and "mysterious" tunnels under Temple Square -- as if there's something secretive and/or sinister about them. Well I've been in them a few times -- my brother works at the Church office building and we used them to get around, from the parking garage @ the conference cener, to the tabernacle, JSMB and Church Office Building. They're pretty ordinary hallways with flourescent lighting and carpeting. And there's absolutely nothing the least bit secret, sinister or even interesting about them. BORING.