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Eldar Kadymov | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Relic of The Cold War tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Relic of The Cold War

At the first glance it looks like a simple 2-storey corrugated metal shed encaged with large reinforced fences in a field. But walking downhill along the interior’s long circular tunnel, surrounded by two-foot thick concrete walls, you quickly realize that this is not an ordinary building. At the end of the tunnel lies an elevator that goes even further down -- four stories, in fact -- into a very complex undeground structure housing military command centre, facilities section, endless tunnels, cafeteria, hospital, boardrooms, dormitories, communication centres, gold treasury, weapon storage, etc.

This 4-storey deep underground bunker was built during the Cold War in 1960s, and meant to serve as Canada’s emergency underground headquarters to save lifes of government officials in the event of a nuclear attack. Several underground bunkers were constructed across the country with authorization from Prime Minister John Diefenbaker who suffered from a paranoia of nuclear threat. The Opposition dubbed the facilities "Diefenbunkers", and the name stuck. The biggest one, which is shown here, is located about 35 km away from Ottawa-capital of Canada . Although most of these facilities were decommissioned in the 1990s, a group of volunteers banded together to preserve this bunker and estalished Canada’s Cold War Museum.


It took 32,000 tons of concrete, 5,000 tons of reinforcing steel, and $20-30 million ( today's equivalent of $650 million) to create a facility to house 500 people for 30 days underground. However, unlike Britain’s Cabinet War Rooms which had been used during World War II, the Diefenbunker was never used for its original purpose. There was never a nuclear war, and it was only ever used by military personnel as a communications base. Taxpayers didn't even know about its existence, but "voluntarely" supported its operations for over the quarter of the century. No prime minister ever had to stay there, although one of them once stopped in for lunch.

One interesting thing to mention-bunker was intended to preserve the lifes of the leaders of the ruling party, and exclusively the males (!). As for rest of the population inlcuding women, children and, of course, leaders of the opposition party, well... They were expected to take care about themselves...
Your comments of any nature :-) would be very appreciated !
Gallery is in progress.
Grounded Forever
Grounded Forever
Nuclear Blast Tunnel
Nuclear Blast Tunnel
Survival Is Ensured, We're Well Beyond Green Circle !
Survival Is Ensured, We're Well Beyond Green Circle !
Canada Bank Treasury
Canada Bank Treasury
Counter Attack Planning Room
Counter Attack Planning Room
Communication Centre
Communication Centre
Bunker Is Full Of Amazing Encounters
Bunker Is Full Of Amazing Encounters
Main Boilers Room
Main Boilers Room
Hot Beds Dormitory
Hot Beds Dormitory
Emergency Escape Hatch
Emergency Escape Hatch
Counter Attack Launch Centre
Counter Attack Launch Centre
Escape Plane For prime minister
Escape Plane For prime minister
We Were Lucky It Didn't Fly
We Were Lucky It Didn't Fly
Surgery Room
Surgery Room
Nuclear Blast Proof Door
Nuclear Blast Proof Door
Food Supply Truck
Food Supply Truck
Passage
Passage
Machine Hall
Machine Hall
Dentist Office
Dentist Office
Prime Minister Radio Station
Prime Minister Radio Station
State of the Art Communication Switch Gear
State of the Art Communication Switch Gear
Weapon Storage Facility
Weapon Storage Facility
4.5 kg Infrared Scope for the Night Walk
4.5 kg Infrared Scope for the Night Walk
Safari Jeep
Safari Jeep
Classified Archives
Classified Archives
Unidentified Subject
Unidentified Subject
Map of Projected North American Apocalypse
Map of Projected North American Apocalypse
Chemical Suit
Chemical Suit
Bank Treasury Hatch
Bank Treasury Hatch
Regarded Obsolete
Regarded Obsolete
Police Communication
Police Communication
Blower Control
Blower Control
Likely Lie Detector
Likely Lie Detector
Perimeter Projector
Perimeter Projector
X-Rays Display
X-Rays Display