ColdWar Bunker Again Open to Public

[LadyTevar]

Back to the bunker


Monday July 10, 2006
The Greenbrier resort hopes to recapture Cold War intrigue when the former emergency bunker for U.S. Congress members reopens for tours this summer.

Because of renovations and repairs, more than two years have passed since the public could eye the historic underground facility -- originally designed to house Congress during a nuclear attack.

The Cold War atmosphere that inspired the bunker has given way to the War on Terrorism, so the public tours that start up again on August 20 will be more history lesson than expose.

"We need to explain what the Cold War was and why the bunker was built in the first place," said Robert Conte, the resort's historian and a tour guide.

"As younger people come on the tour, it's getting a little fuzzy. Here was a bunker that was never used for a war that never happened. It's a little abstract."

In addition to scouring the bunker, tourists will get to view a new 3,000-square-foot exhibition gallery featuring props such as bunk beds and security, communications and medical equipment available at the site during the Red Scare.

A 7-minute video explaining the history of the bunker will also be shown.

Even for those familiar with the bunker's offerings, the exhibition gallery and video will likely put things more into perspective for the visitor.

"Part of the problem with the bunker is that it's too overwhelming," Conte said. "People walk around and stare at awe at the facility, ‘Golly, look at this big wall here.' I hope the gallery will focus people's attention."

The 112,544-square-foot concrete-and-steel bunker was built in secrecy between 1959 and 1962 to the tune of $14 million. It was built 700 to 800 feet below The Greenbrier's West Virginia Wing.

The Cold War between the U.S. and Russia was escalating at the time, and national leaders wanted to prepare for what seemed as an inevitable attack.

An attack on America never occurred and the bunker remained unused.

A reporter with The Washington Post exposed the decades-long clandestine facility in 1992, and three years later the U.S. government ended its lease agreement with the Greenbrier. When the government ended its lease with the resort, it took all the furnishings and equipment with it.

The resort took advantage of the public's newfound curiosity for the bunker and offered tours later in 1995. It drew up to 35,000 visitors annually.

Two years ago, Greenbrier officials closed the bunker to repair ductwork and work on a data storage center for outside corporations.

Now visitors can see replicas of what the bunker had to offer.

The tour zings through the cafeteria, dormitories, decontamination chamber, medical clinics, mock chambers for the House and Senate and a power plant. The plant provided emergency generators and air filtration systems. It even included a special oven for cremations in the event of deaths.

Code-named Project Greek Island, the center also came equipped with 25-ton blast doors.

Conte said the bunker housed 1,100 beds that were never used -- like virtually everything else underground.

"The idea was that Congress could continue to function as a Congress," Conte said, "not just hunker down and survive what's going on."

The Virginia Historical Society aided the Greenbrier in recreating artifacts and reproductions from the facility.

Tours will be given on Sunday and Wednesday from the White Sulphur Springs Civic Center.

For a 90-minute tour, it costs adults $30 and children $15. Children under 10 aren't allowed to tour the bunker for safety reasons.

For more information, call (800) 624-6070 or go online to www.greenbrier.com.

[Devonie]

A reporter with The Washington Post exposed the decades-long clandestine facility in 1992,

The funny thing about this, I always thought EVERYONE knew about the bunker at the Greenbrier. *I* did, but maybe that's one of the hazards of living 1/2 hour from one of the places the USSR had missiles pointed at.

When this "expose" came out, everyone here about died laughing.

Dev

[frigidmagi]

You know, I saw this bunker on the Discovery channel when I was still in High School...