It’s not uncommon to hear rumors about tunnels under parts of Omaha. Most of the them tie in to the prohibition era, but I’ve never heard of much about the when and the why the Brandeis Building, Woodmen of the World, and the JC Penny building on 16th and Dodge were connected by tunnels. The Woodmen Tower was built between 1966 and 1969, so well past the prohibition era. The only thing I can personally confirm is that by the end of the 70’s when my mom worked for Woodmen there were dirt tunnels connecting the three buildings (and possibly more depending on who you listen to).
At some point between then and now, the part of these tunnels that connected the 17th street parking garage and the Brandeis Building had been turned into what appeared to be offices or small retail. While this isn’t what I would call prime real estate I thought it might be the perfect spot to display our Vintage Variety items in person. Unfortunately I heard back from the property manager that these units all have bad water leaks that Tab Properties doesn’t seem to have an interest in fixing them. Not only is this a shame for our intended use, but slightly concerning regarding likely mold problems in what is essentially our basement and only a few feet away from the restaurants that are left in the basement here.
