MMF and the "opera" house

Cities of the underworld

Underneath Historic Middletown, Ohio lies an underground world of tunnels from the Sorg era.

It would be great if we could get Don Wildman to do a story in Middletown. I'd love to see those tunnels.

John Beagle wrote: Cities of the underworld Underneath Historic Middletown, Ohio lies an underground world of tunnels from the Sorg era. It would be great if we could get Don Wildman to do a story in Middletown. I'd love to see those tunnels.

This is hearsay and has never been proven.  George Crout was notorious for quoting this in fact, when in fact, it's my understand he had never seen the tunnels.

I've looked numerous times through the building; in the basement, under the stage which still has charred wooden joists from the fire years ago. there is some repaired brick in the front of the basement foundation however this is more consistent with alterations for utilities. Ive never found anything I would consider a possible tunnel entrance.   I have been told the old Sorg Paper did have utility tunnels that provider steam heat to buildings on Main St.

NOLA wrote: I've looked numerous times through the building; in the basement, under the stage which still has charred wooden joists from the fire years ago. there is some repaired brick in the front of the basement foundation however this is more consistent with alterations for utilities. Ive never found anything I would consider a possible tunnel entrance.   I have been told the old Sorg Paper did have utility tunnels that provider steam heat to buildings on Main St.

Actually there is a tunnel running from the Sorg Opera House to the Sorg Mansion. It was a carriage tunnel.
I worked construction in the summers during college in the early 1980's when then owner Harry Finkleman was still very active in the real estate market and we did work on the Opera House. We did work that had us in the basement frequently and there were indeed carriage doors and a passage way inside the basement.
I didn't actually make the journey from one building to the next, but they were there.
Their purpose could have been for numerous things, none of which had to be negative or sinister. Inclement weather or privacy from the mansion to the Opera House for distinquished guests are two that come to mind.


I used to live in this place. My girlfriend at that time and I rented an apartment there. We had the one that was originally the library. The woodworking and masonry in the place is awesome. Also thought the gargoyles were a nice touch. Guess there used to be more of them, but there was one or two in the basement that had fallen. From what I understand they had tried to put them back up but they fell again. So, they just put them in the basement.

Speaking of the basement, there was a tunnel in the basement leading to what used to be the servants quarters. Never got a chance to check it out cause they had it sealed off and locked. Believe they had said something about bats and I don't know maybe just not structurally sound anymore. Not sure, but never got to venture into the tunnel

Excerpts from www.flickr.com photo sharing when sorg opera house tunnels is typed in google. Just FYI.

Nice pics Vet; I also found other Fliker photos (wowWorks) of the interior discussing the tunnels and this person stated the tunnels don't exist; primarily that no preson of the Sorgs promince would want to travel in such a poor enviorment. If it was a carriage tunnel, I'm sure photos of the above ground entrance for the horses and carriage could be located. With the sewer system which had been established by 1890, it would also pose a problem with odors and potential migration into the tunnel.

I never saw the doors in the basement but I wonder if they were utility doors that allowed boilers, equipment etc. to be lowered into the basement from openings that were in the sidewalk.   This would be common practice for the period.

When I checked out the Sorg house last year, there was a big room sort of behind the carriage house that had contained some huge equipment. You could go down into the pit where the big boilers were located (I didn't though) and the pipes went to the house and also to another location. I don't know if those would be the "tunnels" that people mention all the time. I never saw any evidence of any tunnels in the basement of the sorg house itself. I agree that if any tunnels did exist, they were not for people to use all the time. They would be for running steam pipes or something of that nature. I guess if someone really wanted to, they could use them to get to one spot to another.

MMF is subject to open meeting and public records law. All of there actions taken without public notice are null and void.

Why label yourself (group) a CIC if a NFP?

  Maybe the city can build a streetcar to nowhere like in downtown Cincinnati.  It's a pretty quick way to waste funds both in the initial construction and subsequent maintenance and subsidizing.  It's the gift to tax payers that will keep on taking, and taking and taking . . .     Sounds like something Council would be itching to do in order to round out their "historic district."

The idea that MMF never existed until now is absurd!!! Not only do they have a web site with the names of councilpersons no longer on council, there is an ordinance that makes MMF the CIC of Middletown. Who is perpetrating such an outrageous lie?!!! If these "officials" would take a moment to read the law concerning CIC's, they would find that there is a simple remedy to their problem; simply file annual financial reports since their inception!!! Of course, when contempt of the law is such a common practice that those elected to serve the public become the masters, there is no need to follow the law. They have such a fine example of fascism at the federal level that they seem to want to extend its benefits to all of us. Why follow the law? Besides, for the ruling elites, they're just "suggestions"!!!

It lies within the Auditor's Office, not State.




 

acclaro,

According to the state law concerning CICs, it's the Auditor's job to inform the Secretary of State that a CIC has been delinquent in filing annual financial reports. It then falls to the Secretary of State to decertify the non-profit CIC. (At least, that was the way I read the law; I'm sure a real attorney could give a proper reading) There is nothing in the law that says just because you didn't raise funds that you don't have to file. Additionally, where did MMF get the $10k? There should have been some filing to reflect that fundraising.

If they're not an active entity, why did the city give them money? How can they claim not to be a city board if they are, in fact; the CIC for the City of Middletown? How could members of city council and city administration not know the requirements of the law? I can think of a number of questions but I have no confidence that any answers are forthcoming; at least, not until MMF decides whether to save or demolish the Sorg Opera House. Then there will be some kind of bs explanation about the whole thing. This whole thing smells of corruption. Where is our newspaper of record? Shouldn't there be some journalistic investigation? Of course, since the inception of "good news only" reporting in Middletown, I doubt that anyone associated with the Middletown Journal will be interested. I wonder if one of the Cincinnati TV stations could be interested in this. After all, the same architect who designed Music Hall designed the Sorg Opera House. Something needs to be done about this!!!