Hi Fred,

I'm a bit jealous of all of the wonderful experiences you had in the golden age of Nevada!

There are/were definitely tunnels under the Cal Neva...we were able to tour some of them on two different trips. They were originally built during prohibition, to transport and store illegal liquor. Later, when Frank owned the Cal Neva, the tunnels were often used by performers to go from the showroom to their cottages, and from the casino area to their cottages. Most of them tunnels are sealed up now, but they showed us where the entrance used to be in Marilyn's cottage, and in a small room outside of the Indian Room (which was a ski locker when we were there). If I remember right, the tunnel entrance that they took us in was located near the swimming pool.

We only got a peek into Frank's cottage, because it was occupied, but our tour guide was a security guard and he got a call when he was showing us Marilyn's cottage. He left, and told us to lock up when we'd seen enough! The wicker furniture from Marilyn's time was still there, though it had been repainted several times. Unfortunately, they'd gotten rid of her round bed

These pictures are from 2003

Unfortunately it was pretty dark in the tunnel so I didn't get a good picture of this...It says A.G. 194_ Supposedly Frank put Ava Gardner's initials and the date into the cement of the tunnel.

The guard is showing my husband where the tunnel entrance was...