04/01/2026
MYSTERIOUS TUNNEL FOUND AT 401 RICHMOND
-Aaron Fanjoy THE CANADIAN PRESS
A maintenance worker at 401 Richmond Street uncovered an interesting find yesterday.
“I was just moving some of those doors over there when I saw it,” said Ronel Ruiz, visibly shaken.
Working in a small basement storage room, Ruiz noticed bits of coloured paper attached to a wall behind a tightly packed group of spare doors. After clearing the area, he discovered a vintage poster glued to the old brick. When he scratched at it with his fingernail, it fell away to reveal the entrance to a tunnel.
“Who would build such a thing?” he asked.
When additional staff were called in, it was determined the poster depicted the famed urbanist Jane Jacobs, who lived in Toronto from 1968 until her death in 2006. Since the tunnel measured a diminutive 76 cm wide by 45 cm high, exploration couldn’t begin until five-year-old Presley, daughter of a staff member, was armed with a flashlight and pushed inside.
Fifteen minutes later, when muffled laughter was heard inside Dark Horse Espresso Bar, building staff realized the subterranean route was longer than anticipated: “I was grabbing a cheddar and kale scone for a customer when we heard a little voice underneath the pastry case,” said café manager Loana Hnatuik. “We thought it was a ghost!”
Once the case was pushed out of the way, a trap door popped open and a smiling Presley appeared. “Look, you guys, I found some crumpled up notes, and one has lipstick on it!” she said as she handed the items over.
At press time, 401 Richmond staff were still trying to determine the author(s) of the yellowed notes, but hinted that an illicit love affair between a staff janitor and a tenant in the 1980s might be behind the mystery. A building spokesperson also remarked that the tunnel “might be open to children during the annual Doors Open event in May.”
