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Downtown la underpass6/19/2023 ![]() That tunnel was closed in 1994, when the Hall of Justice was shuttered due to damaged it sustained in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. It was a success, and the money arrived safely at the new county offices.īefore that, in 1951, tunnels leading from the federal courthouse to the Hall of Justice were used to transport mobster Mickey Cohen, charged with tax evasion, between his jail cell at the Hall of Justice to his court dates, the LA Times reports. "under the protection of sheriff officers armed with gas grenades, shotguns and sub-machine guns," says KPCC. The move was planned over the course of three months, and lasted from midnight to 7:30 a.m. So the county decided to use the tunnel to the Hall of Administration to transfer all those property taxes into their new offices. (It was approximately next to what's now the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.) ![]() They had just moved into new offices at the Hall of Administration, but all the money from the taxes was at their previous office in the old, now-demolished Hall of Records, about two blocks away, says the LA Times. In October of that year, after everyone in LA county had paid, it amounted to a billion dollars, and that caused a problem for the county. In 1960 there was, of course, no online bill-paying, so it wasn't unheard of for people to pay their property taxes in cash. KPCC has revisited some of the cooler past uses of these tunnels, including ferrying a billion dollars in the dead of night. You might recall that the HBO show True Detective ended up having a tense, ill-lit shootout in the subterranean passageway between those two buildings. It’s truly an unexpected side of Los Angeles.Downtown LA has tunnels for cars at Second and Third streets that are both well-known and well-traveled, but a series of smaller, underground, pedestrian tunnels under Civic Center-below city buildings such as the LA County Hall of Records and the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration and used mostly by workers-remain less traversed. Take snapshots of unique street art decorating aged walls and abandoned, rusted machinery of the past. Take this down to the subterranean levels and check out the otherwise abandoned tunnels of yesteryear frozen in time. Just search behind the Hall of Records on Temple Street for an old, easy-to-miss elevator. In the modern age, these tunnels are being used as film sets and as a training track for runners on particularly rainy days.Įven though it’s officially closed to the public, you’ll still be able to access a portion of the tunnels at your own risk. This hasn’t stopped them from being subtly utilized either way. ![]() Today, much of the underground network is closed off and otherwise closed for public use. The police used them to transport prisoners, banks transported large amounts of cash, and mobsters used them to store bodies. The underground saloon could be accessed via a piano store, that served as a front for the establishment.īesides serving as a venue for nightlife and after-dinner drinks, the tunnel network served various purposes from practical to notorious. Since the 1900’s, King Eddy has been running this establishment underground, with no issues.
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