Plans for building The Bunker at the Greenbrier Resort started in 1956 and was completed in 1962. The Bunker was to be the U.S. Government Relocation facility under the West Virginia Wing of The Greenbrier.
In the event of a national emergency, the 112,544 sq. ft. facility would have been activated and used by the US Congress and support staff.
The award-winning Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, was an ideal location for the facility. Located 250 miles from Washington DC, the resort is easily accessible by air, auto or train.
During the 30 years that the bunker was a secret, groups were meeting there and enjoying theme parties and dinners, without realizing they were in a top-secret government facility. They never realized that the Exhibit Hall was actually designed to be the work place for Congressional staff or that the Mountaineer Room and Governor's Hall would easily accommodate the US Senate and House of Representatives.
But, the secret was out .............The Washington Post exposed the facility on May 31, 1992. On July 31, 1995, the U.S. Government ended the lease agreement and The Greenbrier began offering tours of the facility in December 1995.
My brother and two sisters went on a tour of the Bunker last year and found it very exciting to tour this facility. The 90-minute walking tour of the facility is fully guided and narrated. No cameras, electronic equipment or cell phones are permitted on the Bunker Tour.
During the tour, guests view a seven-minute video that provides an overview of the Cold War era and details why The Greenbrier was selected for this former government relocation facility.
Only the Exhibition Gallery is on the tour, not the entire Bunker. The Exhibition Gallery provides background on four aspects of the bunker's overall mission: to serve as an emergency relocation facility for the U.S. Congress.
The exhibition gallery includes materials once utilized in the communications center, security areas, dormitories, and medical clinic while the facility was maintained in a constant state of readiness. Photographs, documents, maps and other materials, convey the complexity of the plan to activate the bunker and the detailed steps that would have been necessary to ensure the continuity of the U.S. government in the event of a national nuclear threat.
The bunker has four entrances; three that lead to The Greenbrier's grounds and one that connects to the main building. The West Tunnel entrance is protected by a 25-ton blast door, a door that opens with only 50 lbs. of pressure.
The bunker included 18 dormitories, designed to accommodate over 1,100 people in bunk beds. The facility also contained a power plant with three 25,000-gallon water storage tanks and purification equipment as well as three 14,000-gallon diesel fuel storage tanks. In addition to the communications area, which included a television production area and audio recording booths, the bunker also had a clinic area with 12 hospital beds, medical and dental operating rooms, laboratory, pharmacy and intensive care unit.
Tours are offered daily, departing from The Greenbrier. The cost of the tour is $30 per adult and $15 per child, ages 10-18. (The tour is available for persons ten years of age and older.)
Reservations are required and may be made by calling Linda Walls, Manager of Bunker Tours at 304-536-7810.
Photos courtesy of The Greenbrier, Lynn Swann, Manager of Public Relations. To see additional photos, go to The Bunker.
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