Proposal

Repurposing these tunnels for public use at the university will begin with creating access points. For many entrances, this requires minimal effort. For example, allowing the elevators to go to the bottom floor or removing the locks on the doors that enter the underground hallways. According to the Urban Explorers, the tunnels are filled with maintenance items and certain areas are difficult to navigate with all the objects in the way. The second step would be to remove all objects and clean the underground hallways so walking is safe. The third step would be to install security cameras in the halls. This is important because campus security cannot cover an entire area at once and cameras will deter or even catch any person causing trouble if someone is not there to stop it. The last and perhaps most difficult step will be to finish connecting the dorm tunnels to the tunnels that connect all the academic buildings. Doing this would allow the entire campus to be accessible by staying underground out of Mother Nature’s wrath. This cannot currently be estimated because the Pennsylvania State Department of Transportation would have to hire contractors to figure out the shortest distance from each Hall to an academic building to keep costs low. Some may argue that these tunnels may become very crowded if there is only one entrance to each hall so contractors would also have to figure out the flow of pedestrian traffic, and decide if there should be multiple routes for exiting or entering.


Using underground hallways as a means of transportation is not a new idea and has been implemented successfully in other Universities. “Concordia University Wisconsin has nearly 4 miles of connecting tunnels and hallways that keep students out of the harsh winter elements” (Ehlke). This is exactly what Penn State needs to utilize. Wisconsin University spokes person Craig McCarthy says, “Some of the tunnels date back to when the School Sisters of Notre Dame owned the 200-acre lakefront property before Concordia bought it in 1982” (McCarthy).

Students walk in tunnels connecting dorms to academic buildings at Concordia University Wisconsin. Gretchen Elhke. Website  (http://news.yahoo.com/students-wis-college-cozy-walk-class-212420708.html). November 17, 2014.

Students walk in tunnels connecting dorms to academic buildings at Concordia University Wisconsin. Gretchen Elhke. Website (http://news.yahoo.com/students-wis-college-cozy-walk-class-212420708.html). November 17, 2014.

Our tunnels also were previously used for different reasons, but Concordia University Wisconsin has given them a new purpose and did not leave them as wasted space. Given Concordia University Wisconsin has nearly 8,000 students and their tunnels get crowded at times, “It turns into rush hour on the freeway. Everybody lines up and goes” (Weber). Their tunnel system is only four miles long whereas Penn State’s exceeds that a few times over. Seeing how another university was able to give their tunnels effective use, Penn State can as well. In order make Pennsylvania State Univeristy aware of the benefits of establishing the tunnel system it can start with signing a petition that you can find at https://www.change.org/p/pennsylvania-state-university-open-the-underground-tunnels-of-penn-state-university.

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