TORONTO

Elton McDonald has come out from underground to tell the world his hidden digs in the woods near York University was a labour of love.

The gaps in the story of the mysterious 10-metre-long tunnel, as well as who dug it, are starting to be filled in.

Scaring the city or creating a riddle, he promised, was never the 22-year-old construction worker’s intention.

“I just want people to know that I meant no harm at all,” a happy-go-lucky McDonald told the Toronto Sun Wednesday. “It was not meant as a bad thing.” In fact, since he began working in construction at age 17, he said it was his “dream” to build something like that. He built the underground hideaway on land adjacent to his family’s home right near York University.

“It was just something I always wanted to do,” he said. “I knew I could do it. It was kind of a fun project for me and some friends.”

Elton described himself as a the “main digger,” and said the tunnel had actually been there in the wooded area — between the Driftwood neighbourhood in which he’s “lived all my life” and the property that abuts York University — for more than two years.

Some close friends helped him, but other than that, he said, it was kept very close to the vest.

In some ways he’s still doing that. Under the alias of Kevin, he arrived at the Toronto Sunoffice Wednesday with cellphone pictures he said he took of his project and with his 18-year-old friend Jamal, who insisted he had never been to the tunnel site.

Soon after, “Kevin” revealed his true identity as Elton, providing his driver’s licence including date of birth.

He did not say who helped him scoop up the earth, but if that person (or persons) has anything to add, we would be willing to tell their tale too.

Meanwhile, McDonald told his story on a limited basis for now, but says that when he feels more comfortable he will do on-air interviews. There is more to tell and more to learn. He said he promises to not leave any holes in the mystery from his point of view.

“I want people to know I am not hiding but just want to talk it over with my family and make sure I want to be out there like that.” His mother, he said, has been supportive.

“My mom was proud that I was able to build it but I don’t want anybody to think I did anything wrong.” It was meant, he said, as a construction challenge with a view to creating a cool hideaway near home but tucked away in private.

“It was a secret for sure but it was not built for nefarious reasons,” McDonald said. “It was a place that no one knew about.”

As Toronto Police said it was for “personal reasons.” McDonald, who works in construction, said it really was.

A hideout. A bunker. A man cave. A clubhouse.

“It wasn’t really a tunnel. I was going to expand it to have a couple of rooms,” he said. “I was hoping to put in a TV. I did some barbecuing there. It was more a place to hang out.”

Toronto Police have backed up the claim and say there was no criminal intent or law broken. Even Chief Bill Blair said it was perhaps “one of the coolest forts ever.” McDonald said the chief got that right.

“It was fun,” he said.

However, when police came upon it in January after it was tripped over by a conservation officer they were not sure what to think. They began to investigate but were completely stumped. They went to the media for help and Elton said he was shocked when he heard about the mystery on the news.

“At first I didn’t think they were talking about my tunnel but a different one,” he said. “But then I saw the pictures and I knew. Even an author and movie guy (Stephen King) was talking about it.” McDonald said he wanted to say something but then got scared.

“The kind of things they were saying it could be had me frightened,” he said. “They were saying it was a terror tunnel, for crime or connecting to Al-Shabaab and I didn’t know what to do.”

He said he has “no criminal record” but has dealt with police before and was not sure how to play it to avoid ending up “being taken away.” But then the phone rang.

“It was a police officer on the other end of the line who said, ‘How would you like to come into the station and tell us about the hole that you dug,’” said McDonald. “I didn’t try to hide or deny it. I just said ‘yes’ and then went into 32 Division.”

Turns out his boss had been called and asked about equipment found at the tunnel, including a generator, that linked back to him. His boss gave police his name.

“My boss was not mad,” he said. “He had lent me the equipment and knew it was something I always wanted to do. I had learned a lot about construction from him and knew about water developing in basements because I work on houses and how to drain it.”

McDonald said detectives were very kind and interested in his construction techniques.

“They put me in a room with toys and things so I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable,” he said. “They taped my whole interview on video. I told them what it was about and was there for about an hour and they said they were satisfied there wasn’t a crime committed.”

Sources tell the Sunit was McDonald who was interviewed by police for the tunnel but would not say if others were as well.

The young man said he had not been at the underground fort since “between Christmas and New Year’s” and said he was unaware if someone else had.

For his part, he said it never occurred to him that there was anything wrong with what he had done or what he was doing. He said he had no idea the Rexall Centre was behind the trees or that the Pan Am Games and major tennis events with world stars are scheduled there for this summer.

“I heard people playing tennis over there a few times when we were digging but I didn’t even know what was over there,” he said.

He said reports that materials were borrowed from there or that trees were cut down were false as far as anything he was involved in.

“I did not do any of that,” he said.

What he did do, he said, is dig.

“It was a lot of work,” he said. “Me and a friend did most of it. It took about five months all in total. We drained the well water from the surface and secured it with wood (beams) and made sure there was enough clean air to breathe. I put the generator in another hole so that there would be no gas fumes down there.”

But even though he took precautions, he was always worried about a collapse — and said he even experienced one that was “heavy enough to crush a chair” — which is how the much-talked-about rosary and poppy ended up being pinned to the wall.

“It was kind of for protection. It was for good luck, a prayer,” he said. “My sister had given me the rosary and the poppy I found at Remembrance Day.”

Although “sad” that his creation has been filled in, he said he does understand why police did it. But if possible he would like to get the rosary and poppy back if they are being held as evidence somewhere.

“The rosary means a lot to me because my sister had given it to me and I would like it.”

Knowing that what he was doing was potentially “dangerous,” he said he gave both his mom and sisters a heads up about what he was doing.

“I told my mom that we’re digging out there somewhere so she would know why I would come home dirty. They didn’t know where it was but that is was in the area. Just me and a couple of people knew where it actually was. I wanted to keep it a secret and a place where I could always go.

“When you went down there it was like you don’t even exist. I wanted to make it a place that no one knew about it.”

Mission accomplished for Elton McDonald. Sort of.

Meanwhile, the once mystery digger says he loved building Toronto’s famous secret tunnel so much he can’t wait to do it again.

“But I will build it next time when I have my own property,” joked McDonald.