I asked the owner if I could share my visit, and he said that is fine if it is in general terms. All I can say is the site is located in the hilly parts of Indiana.
We have worked together on and off over the years and he knew I'd appreciate it. He also said it might give me ideas for my stories I'm working on. I've left off some of his special changes out of respect to his family.
He didn't allow pictures and I was ok with it. As he gave me a tour, I had a grin a mile wide. He is changing the above ground structures and landscape so that in a few months, it it will not look like it was before.
The site can not be seen from the road and is behind a gentle hill. A gravel road leads to the two simple above ground structures that say 1960's farm buildings and not much else. The only clue is some weathered stainless steel air intakes that have some unusual berms to hide them from casual onlookers. Even up close they look like galvanized cold frames. However, if you look down in them you can tell something very interesting is underground.
The larger building looks cheaply made until you enter it. It has a normal metal door that goes into an office area. To the rear you would suspect a shop area but it is not. The door frame is about 18 inches thick and metal blast door with automatic closers is behind the metal fake door you think is taking you to the shop. To one side is another blast door that goes to the stairway and the other side is a large elevator that you could almost fit a pickup. The rear of the building has a cheap sliding farm door the covers a very special rolling vehicle entrance door that opens up to a staging area for loading and unloading items in a secure space. Inside an behind the rolling door was a very heavy sliding door that reminded me of a sliding fire door, but much heavier. He said the elevator works fine, but the stairs are a better way to enter the bunker.
The blast door for the stairs was open and we went down to the first below grade level. The stairs were very wide and on the ceiling was a hoist that could be used to lower or lift items if the elevator was down.
We went through another blast door into the main hall. The led lights came on as we moved around and it had all the comforts of home.
It had bedrooms, storage space, activity rooms and a modern kitchen. Everything you would expect in a house.
He had flat screens that tied into his security system and could see in and around the building and his grounds. The site was a work in progress, but it was well stocked.
Everything in the bunker has three of every important system. Generators, air filters, water and fuel storage fit this requirement. It even had a system to take the solids out of waste water. The part that was very cool was the DC power system. These were strings of wet cell batteries the size of 5 gallon buckets. All the containers were clear to check for fuild levels and identify problems. The generators are to power the battery banks and served as peaking units in times of higher demand. Three identical CAT generators sat in three different rooms to provide power. He had plenty of spare parts for the equipment
The kitchen had walk in coolers and freezers, but they were not on when I walked around. He said the the compressors don't work and he is getting sunfrost units instead. He joked they are his emp cages and from the looks of them, they will do just fine in that role.
The shop is fully stocked and many of the items were still in place when it was a real cold war bunker. He has added some items to deal with the new equipment, but it still had that 60's feeling
He took me to the sub basement and it was mainly dry storage areas with light green tile and grey walls. Heavy columns matched up with the ones on the main basement level. Other than a stale smell, it didn't smell moldy or damp. He is not sure what to do with this area. but is is almost as large as the main floor. He thinks it was built this way so that expansion of the site's mission could be done without any additional expense. The ceiling on this level was about 10 feet. The main basement level was almost 16 feet high.
After about an hour and half, the tour was over and we returned to the surface. He let me open and close the main blast door in the basement a few times because it was so perfectly balanced. When I asked him how large the bunker was he said just under 30,000 square feet. He said it was a old family secret how he came to own it.
I didn't press that issue other than to continue to expand my grin.
We have worked together on and off over the years and he knew I'd appreciate it. He also said it might give me ideas for my stories I'm working on. I've left off some of his special changes out of respect to his family.
He didn't allow pictures and I was ok with it. As he gave me a tour, I had a grin a mile wide. He is changing the above ground structures and landscape so that in a few months, it it will not look like it was before.
The site can not be seen from the road and is behind a gentle hill. A gravel road leads to the two simple above ground structures that say 1960's farm buildings and not much else. The only clue is some weathered stainless steel air intakes that have some unusual berms to hide them from casual onlookers. Even up close they look like galvanized cold frames. However, if you look down in them you can tell something very interesting is underground.
The larger building looks cheaply made until you enter it. It has a normal metal door that goes into an office area. To the rear you would suspect a shop area but it is not. The door frame is about 18 inches thick and metal blast door with automatic closers is behind the metal fake door you think is taking you to the shop. To one side is another blast door that goes to the stairway and the other side is a large elevator that you could almost fit a pickup. The rear of the building has a cheap sliding farm door the covers a very special rolling vehicle entrance door that opens up to a staging area for loading and unloading items in a secure space. Inside an behind the rolling door was a very heavy sliding door that reminded me of a sliding fire door, but much heavier. He said the elevator works fine, but the stairs are a better way to enter the bunker.
The blast door for the stairs was open and we went down to the first below grade level. The stairs were very wide and on the ceiling was a hoist that could be used to lower or lift items if the elevator was down.
We went through another blast door into the main hall. The led lights came on as we moved around and it had all the comforts of home.
It had bedrooms, storage space, activity rooms and a modern kitchen. Everything you would expect in a house.
He had flat screens that tied into his security system and could see in and around the building and his grounds. The site was a work in progress, but it was well stocked.
Everything in the bunker has three of every important system. Generators, air filters, water and fuel storage fit this requirement. It even had a system to take the solids out of waste water. The part that was very cool was the DC power system. These were strings of wet cell batteries the size of 5 gallon buckets. All the containers were clear to check for fuild levels and identify problems. The generators are to power the battery banks and served as peaking units in times of higher demand. Three identical CAT generators sat in three different rooms to provide power. He had plenty of spare parts for the equipment
The kitchen had walk in coolers and freezers, but they were not on when I walked around. He said the the compressors don't work and he is getting sunfrost units instead. He joked they are his emp cages and from the looks of them, they will do just fine in that role.
The shop is fully stocked and many of the items were still in place when it was a real cold war bunker. He has added some items to deal with the new equipment, but it still had that 60's feeling
He took me to the sub basement and it was mainly dry storage areas with light green tile and grey walls. Heavy columns matched up with the ones on the main basement level. Other than a stale smell, it didn't smell moldy or damp. He is not sure what to do with this area. but is is almost as large as the main floor. He thinks it was built this way so that expansion of the site's mission could be done without any additional expense. The ceiling on this level was about 10 feet. The main basement level was almost 16 feet high.
After about an hour and half, the tour was over and we returned to the surface. He let me open and close the main blast door in the basement a few times because it was so perfectly balanced. When I asked him how large the bunker was he said just under 30,000 square feet. He said it was a old family secret how he came to own it.
I didn't press that issue other than to continue to expand my grin.
