Recent Tour Offers Glimpse Of Northland Mall Tunnel System
SOUTHFIELD (AP) - A recent tour of what once one of the nation's oldest shopping malls has offered a glimpse at an elaborate tunnel system under the suburban Detroit complex.
Northland Center in Southfield closed last year and could be demolished this summer. The tunnels opened with the mall in 1954 and were primarily used for making truck deliveries to stores, but also for storage, workshop space and even nuclear fallout shelters.
The Detroit Free Press last month toured the tunnel network, which begins with a winding roadway that branches off into passageways connecting subterranean rooms, decrepit stairwells and non-working elevator shafts.
Jerry Witkowski, a former code enforcement official for Southfield, says the network runs several miles and includes nearly 500 rooms.
The city of Southfield plans to redevelop the site.
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