Nation's First Cold War Bunker, Control Center To Be Demolished In Wheaton

WHEATON, IL — DuPage County officials are getting ready to demolish a Cold War bunker more than 60 years after it was built. The bunker, which was built in 1957, was the first of its kind built in America and its demolition comes at a time when U.S. and Russian relations are once again tenuous.

According to Daily Herald, the bunker or “Nuclear Age Civil Defense control center” has been tucked beneath an unassuming single-story government office for decades. Its construction took place as tensions were escalating between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R, shortly after Sputnik was launched and many feared a Soviet attack was imminent.

In the years since, the bunker has served as a headquarters for DuComm and has been unoccupied since 2012.

The bunker offers a neatly preserved piece of the past. Daily Herald reported that the Cold War bunker is fortified by 18-inch cinder block walls and 36 inch concrete ceiling. A “war room,” decontamination showers and a secured telephone landline are remnants of a history that feels eerily familiar in today’s political climate.

>>More via Daily Herald

Image via Pixabay