A copy of a Toronto Police photo of the site of the tunnel found near one of the venues for this year's Pan American games is shown during a press conference in Toronto on February 24, 2015. A Toronto newspaper says it has found the man behind the so-called mystery tunnel discovered near a Pan Am Games venue in the city's north end. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Toronto PoliceHO/The Canadian Press
Caves have never, or only rarely, been the preferred dwellings of human beings; holes are generally quite inconvenient residences. But they have a long, honourable history as shrines and refuges – from the paleolithic cave-paintings at Lascaux and Altamira in France and Spain, to the Cave of Adullam in the Bible, where David lived when King Saul was pursuing him, to the caves where an ancient Jewish community, the Essenes, kept safe the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Elton McDonald, a young man in the midst of Toronto, made himself a refuge in a cave of his own, a "man cave" or, in his own words, "a dream" for "a place to hang out."
The whole episode is praiseworthy, though strictly speaking it was petty trespassing in an unused bit of woodland. But no harm, no foul. Toronto's Jane-Finch neighbourhood often gets saddled with a reputation for crime. But the hole wasn't for drugs or stolen goods – or terrorism. It was just one man, who in his spare time decided to do something difficult and impressive. And kind of cool.
Mr. McDonald built his tunnel skillfully; as the police said, it had "structural integrity." And he showed his understanding of drainage, learned as a construction worker. The whole thing was a minor engineering feat.
When the hole was brought to their attention, the police behaved as one would hope. They investigated. And they discovered that sometimes a well-constructed, structurally sound, well-drained hole in the ground is nothing more, and nothing less, than that.
The hole was close to the Rexall Centre, where the tennis matches of the 2015 Pan American Games will be held this summer. Hence the feverish speculation that this was some kind of terrorist launch pad. Again, the police were sensible. They checked it out, discovered the truth and spread no fears. The rosary that Mr. McDonald's sister had given him, kept in the hole, was not attributed to radicalized Roman Catholics.
When asked, nearly a century ago, why he was trying to become the first man to climb Everest, George Mallory answered, "Because it's there." Mr. McDonald went down into the ground for the same reason that Mallory went up into the air: To challenge himself.