Brady Kress, Dayton history’s president and CEO, says what remains of NCR’s tunnel system is an unassuming doorway leading to a small space off a parking lot near Marriott at the University of Dayton and Cox Media Center located in the area of Main Street and River Park Drive.
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For all practical purposes, the door leads to nowhere. It once lead to much more.
Here is how a Dayton History Book Online describes the tunnel system:
No doubt if you worked at NCR in Dayton or visited the campus, you were aware of the tunnel system running from building to building connecting the basement of each building with the basement of the next. There were nine main tunnels spanning nearly one half mile in length. The average tunnel was 8 feet high and 8 feet wide. The electric trucks which were purchased for movement of materials outside the buildings and that were such a labor saver were just too large to be efficiently used in the tunnels.
Dayton History at Carillon Park, 1000 Carillon Blvd., Dayton, has a display about the tunnel system, which was used to get materials and workers between buildings.
The display includes two gray tunnel doors that were once near NCR’s famed building 26.
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Founded by Dayton luminary John Patterson, NCR left Dayton in 2009 for suburban Atlanta.
Over the years, the tunnel system has been collapsed during University of Dayton construction projects, Kress said.
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