By Olivia Janis and Mackenna Stewart
Beneath the yellow floor tiles of the upper school’s first floor lies a basement shrouded in mystery. Rumored to be haunted, its existence is barely acknowledged by the students. Dusty relics of the past sit hidden in corners, waiting for curious souls to uncover their secrets…
Lucky for y’all, Mackenna and I took the liberty of exploring the basement ourselves with the help of Mr. Wachtman, maintenance manager, and Mr. Rosso, grounds staff. Mr. Wachtman has been working at Lovett for the past 15 years and Mr. Rosso is now in year 7. The basement is 22 years old, and from what we saw, it looks like it is in great shape!
We all entered the elevator to go down to the basement. In order to access floor “B,” Mr. Rosso had to use his special key. Mackenna and I gave each other looks, both sensing the thrill of going into the locked parts of Lovett. We later found out that most of the different doors on the basement floor are locked because, in the past, some students have managed to explore down there, but Mr. Wachtman said he had only heard about that happening once.
The first room we entered in the basement to our surprise did NOT have dead bodies in it, but actually contained the wifi routers and the systems that control the bells and clocks (all the telecommunications stuff). We were baffled because we had never even thought about the mechanics that go into the bell ringing before every class, let alone realized it was stored in the basement. When there is a problem with the bells they first check the grid patterns in the ceiling and first replace those before coming down to the basement.
As we continued further down, Mr. Wachtman reminded us to watch where we were walking since there was various machinery on the floor. I was still anticipating a Freddy Krueger style jumpscare but realized I should pay attention to the floor. We saw the boilers that heated the water and the water pump. They were in pretty big tanks, so we asked if there had ever been any accidents. Mackenna and I were already thinking the worst, but Mr. Wachtman and Mr. Rosso assured us that there has never been an accident in the time they have been working here. Mr. Rosso explained how there are many safety mechanisms on the machinery. “If there is water loss, it’ll shut it down. If there’s power fluctuation, it’ll shut it off,” he said.
We then saw the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) stuff, which was all controlled through four computers. The computers do something called “economizing where it takes the cold air in the morning from outside and then puts that in the building to make the building cool. And then when it gets above the circuit temperature outside the computer kicks on the compressors,” explained Mr. Wachtman. The air circulating units are on the roof. Unfortunately, they were not allowed to take us up there.
As we continued to explore, we went into the electrical room. “This reminds me of the game Among Us,” said Mackenna. There were so many different wires and cords that it looked almost like a game. After standing in the room for a few minutes we realized how hot it was. Mr. Rosso explained how, with the amount of energy circulating, the room heats up because, like we learned in chemistry class, energy gives off heat.
As we entered a part of the basement that was exposed to the outside, Mackenna and I finally realized where we were. We were under the doors on the side of the upper school that is right next to the guidance counselor’s office and close to the doors that open for the pool. Ever since I was a kindergarten student walking back from the pool to the lower school, I always wondered what was under the cage-like sidewalk we walked on.
Before we left the basement of the upper school, Mackenna and I were curious to know how often Mr. Wachtman and Mr. Rosso go down there. Mr. Wachtman said that they check the basement periodically throughout the day just to make sure everything is running smoothly.
Our next stop was the basement under the chapel… one of the oldest parts of the building since it is located in the community center. Mr. Rosso mentioned how the renovation of the community center means that the “dungeon” under the chapel will be completely gone. So, essentially, this was our first and only chance to explore. The reason why the basement was built under the chapel was to have the mechanics stored there. But the real issue was the sewer system. The system we use has two sewer pumps, so if the pump in the basement fails all the stuff that drains into the basement won’t leave the basement.
And speaking of the bowels of Lovett, we both realized just how expansive it is. It seemed as if almost every building on campus contained an underground, dungeon-like establishment in the depths of the school. The Orchestra pit is just one of many of these underground pits that sit under the stage of the auditorium. The Orchestra pit is dug so deep underground that it is subject to regular flooding, especially during harsh rain conditions, like Helene produced. Because the orchestra pit is below the level of the front lake, “the lake when it gets really full, the water wants to back up into the building,” Mr. Rosso said.
Immediately Olivia and I both recalled the immense flooding we witnessed through the Lovett Instagram page, but neither of us had any idea that flooding was happening within the school as well. However, besides the fear of thalassophobia from flooding, there were no jumpscares or unsettled spirits of tuba players who missed their cues awakened in the orchestra pit.
After exploring every dark corner of the Orchestra pit, we trekked to the sunken, gloomy halls under the lower school. We skipped the middle school system because the lower school was built with two systems, “one system for the lower school and one system for the middle school.” This means that underneath the middle school lies an intricate plumbing system that extends underground.
As we walked through the green space between the middle school and lower school and entered the lower school halls, we took a slight detour from the normal path of the stairs. Instead of taking a right to go up the stairs which all lower school students are accustomed to doing, we took a left and unlocked a short gate that took us directly under the school. “I’m sure [the lower school students are] scared to come down here,” I said aloud to my ghostbusting companions. Mr. Wachtman and Mr. Rosso reminded me that the kids probably don’t even notice the restrictive gate that blocks their curious gaze to the unexplored maze that lies beneath the school.
The Lower school basement is essentially a clone of the upper school basement with the exception of one feature. The cooling tower, which is located behind the lower school playground and in front of the middle school, is responsible for cooling the water by taking hot air and hot water out of the building. If you can’t place the location of the cooling tower in your mind then just follow the ominous smoke that flows from the tower on cold mornings.
After exiting the cooling tower, we were introduced to the noisy generators, chillers, and boilers that drowned out our weak voices under the heavy machinery. We quickly toured this ear-wrenching part of the basement and magically transported it to the roof of the lower school.
The roof was drenched with water from the rain the night before which made it almost impossible to walk without believing you would slip and fall through what seemed like a very unforgiving roof. Luckily I didn’t fall through, otherwise I would’ve been the first accident among the student body.
Even Olivia’s grandmother, a former teacher, has never heard of any student accidents involving the basement or any unexplored territory of Lovett for that matter. However, she recalls how in the basement they had coke machines, and when they got a chance during the day, they would go down there and sip on a coke. Sadly, we did not see any Coke machines in the basement, but I strongly suggest we should bring them back.
