Secret Government Installations

[Mr. K.L.Bowers]

I am not certain this is the proper location for this thread, but here it is. There is a private school here in Western Maryland that has been here since before the Civil War. Very exclusive (read expensive). I was recently told by one of the board members of a secret government installation that was located beneath one of the dormitories. I began to laugh as this is a common urban legend. He corrected me and proceeded to show me this secret that has been hidden in the campus since the 1950’s. I am told it was a communication listening station. It had two feet of reinforced concrete with small metal fibers imbedded to not only protect the occupants in the event of a nuclear attack but the fibers prevented penetration by spy satellites. The installation was completely self-contained. It had it’s own water supply from two wells drilled inside the building. It had it’s own emergency generator and enough fuel to operate independently for 3 months. It has food and supplies for 3 to 6 months with sleeping quarters, shower rooms for both men and women and several large rooms were some equipment was obviously in place, but now long removed. The center was in operation until the early 90’s, when with the end of the cold war, it was abandoned. It was stripped and turned over to the school to become what is now basically an elaborate basement. I had my camera with me that day and here is what I found.

This is the entrance to the "Bunker". The open door to the right leads to the generator / water system room. The door to the left leads to the main complex.

Here are the 10 inch blast doors to seal the complex in the event of a nuclear blast.

Here is the mens shower rooms.

I am guessing this was a communications room. Look at the amount of phone / communication lines.

I was told this was a listening room? It is completly enclosed in sound proofing.

Here is a room with a vault door inside the vaulted rooms.

I am wondering how some of the parents of students attending the school over the past 40 years would feel knowing that their child was sleeping over a secret installation?

Any more out there?

 

[Doh!]

Thanks for the photos. I don't know why, but I love urban decay.

 

[KeyGrip]

There's one built into a very famous (also expensive) hotel somewhere near if not on the east coast of the United States. It has been declassified, but before that it was an emergency relocation site for the executive and legislative branches.

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/Building/2124/Westlin_Bunker__The.php

Built in the 1920s.

 

[Smithy]

In Auckland, NZ, during the war the whole of the North Head promontory was hollowed out and used for the storage of weapons and even aircraft. It was shrouded in secrecy and the access tunnels were concreted up shortly after the war. It's a popular spot for tourists and locals alike to wander around as some of the passages into the hillside are accessible for 10 or 20 feet before you hit the concrete barriers.

However the most intriguing thing is that rumours abound that the inner chambers still contain munitions, stores and even aircraft (Mosquitos and Kittyhawks are the usual rumours). Although a number of experts have poo-pooed the rumours a number of very respectable historians argue that there could very possibly be such things hidden in North Head. What adds to the mystery is that the powers that be will not allow any opening of the tunnels or excavation and exploration of them.

 

[Big Man]

There was a similar type facility under the old gym at ASU when I went to school there in the early 1970's.

 

[Story]

For urban exploration check out

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/index.php

Lotsa sites like that on those forums, also do a search back on FL about a year or more ago.

 

[rebelgtp]

ah yes well one day while I was "exploring" at my old school i found a similar bunker under a portion of the school, however it had seen much more decay than the one you have pictured there. I'd love to do a bit more "urban exploration" however where I live now there is no chance for that.

 

[nobodyspecial]

I suspect there are lots of these sorts of places around the country, some still in operation. They would be fun to tour.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Greenbrier Hotel Bunker in West Virginia

The Greenbrier Hotelhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/sfeature/bunker.html

The Greenbrier Hotel (Just down I-64 from me) is a posh resort where our govt had a bunker.