A few years later CPM had evolved considerably, becoming much more advanced eventually being replaced by other project resource control systems (such as PERT). It was 1959 and over the next two years this site was transformed into one of Canada’s primary Cold War secret defence facilities. It is now the location of Canada’s Cold War Museum. During the Cold War, top officials were to take shelter here in the event of a nuclear war. In 1957, Khrushchev challenged the United States to a “shooting match,” and the next year he demanded that the West leave Berlin. Photograph taken by Lauren Markewicz on 1885 Street at Fort Edmonton Park, 2012. Part of the station’s original 80 acres have been converted into a baseball diamond. This enabled them to fit-in all the intricate plumbing, ducting, cabling and machinery required to support the environmental and functional equipment necessary for the operation of the facility. ( Log Out / Think twice about visiting, however, if you are claustrophobic. Maryland: Tracing the Steps of Tubman & Douglass, Private Trip: Tracing the Steps of Tubman & Douglass, Natural Dyes: Creating a Plant-Based Palette With Aaron Sanders Head, Sons and Daughters of Deucalion and Pyrrha, In Montana, Remote Fire Lookouts Keep a Century-Old Tradition Alive, The Holocaust-Surviving Violins That Were Quarantined Beneath a California Stage. In, Panneton , Daniel , "Diefenbunker, Canada's Cold War Museum ". The facility at Carp was the “flagship” as it was also resistant to high levels of blast ( the equivalent of 5 million tons of TNT exploding at about a mile away) compared to the all of others which were only designed to protect against fallout. Small numbers of elected federal and provincial representatives along with supporting officials were included in this program. My favourite part of the whole trip was when my dad, a very serious man, sat in one of the chairs at a office table and pretended that he was the prime minister. (Note: it only later gained the charming portmanteau nickname “Diefenbunker” and was known by more boring acronyms in official documentation.). http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards/PC010948.html Courtesy of Peel’s Prairie Provinces.
As well a full-time Curator and assistant have greatly added to the long-term viability of the Museum . Since 1997 the Diefenbunker has offered Ottawans and visitors alike a glimpse into Canada’s nuclear past through the lens of this massive bomb shelter. Heritage/Parks Canada, National Defence) educational institutions (i.e. I know, I know, all you want to do is get this assignment over and done with so you can go back to doing whatever it is that the hip and cool kids are doing nowadays: perfecting your parkour skills, inventing time machines, learning how to knit. Construction of the shelter — which was designed to withstand a five-megaton nuclear blast — required 32,000 cubic yards of concrete and 5,000 tons of steel.
The interior has been faithfully preserved, giving visitors a sense of what it must have looked like in the 1960s. Courtesy of Peel’s Prairie Provinces. Canadians had been shaken by the Suez Crisis of 1956 and the nuclear sabre rattling of new Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, as well as the proliferation of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in both NATO and Soviet bloc countries. If you are like me and are living thousands of kilometres from the Ottawa area, you can also visit the site online in this Virtual Museum. Occupying more than 100,000 square feet, the bunker consisted of four underground stories and more than 350 rooms, which included a decontamination chamber, medical and dental facilities, a war room, dining facilities and dormitories. Other of its 358 rooms have been converted to relevant exhibits of the Cold War era, including Civil Defence Shelters and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima with many more in the works as time, ability and funds permit. Did Early Humans Invent Hot Pot in Geothermal Pools?
A group of volunteers got together to keep and display an important part of our heritage that many of us have forgotten or just not known. What Will Mexico City Do With 2,000 Mammoth Bones? The township acquired the site and all of its structures (along with some environmental cleanup obligations) for under $300,000. Nuclear Darkness The content here is as dark as the name suggests — lots of material on the history and consequences of nuclear war. Fortunately officials of West Carleton Township, urged on by a group of local volunteers took a good look at the potential of the facility from the viewpoint of its historic value. At such a distance the blast over pressure would have been over 100-psi and the “wind” passing over the structure would have exceeded 1000 mph! You know, the usual. Mrs. St. Denis-Lemoine as The Dominion of Canada. It was built in Carp, tensions between 1959 and 1961, and named after then-Prime Minister.
Instead the designers built a monolithic heavily reinforced high strength concrete “box” and surrounded it with a 5-foot thick pad of compacted, well-drained gravel.
Special events and tours take place here regularly; see the museum’s website for more information. Diefenbunker - Cold War Secret Defence Facility. Since it was built by the government of then Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, one can understand how the government’s bomb shelter was soon nick-named the Diefenbunker. Canadians had been shaken by the Suez Crisis of 1956 and the nuclear sabre rattling of new Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, as well as the proliferation of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in both NATO and Soviet bloc countries. Please click below to consent to the use of this technology while browsing our site. PC010948. Now that the threat has receded, however, much can be learned about these places as the veil of secrecy has often been lifted.
Ford knew what he was doing. A few months earlier Prime Minister John Diefenbaker had risen in the House of Commons to make this announcement: “…development of a decentralized federal system of emergency government with central, regional and zonal elements would proceed” (Hansard, Aug 21, 1958), Mr. Diefenbaker went on to describe the basic principles of what became known as the Continuity of Government Program. The Diefenbunker was in operation for 33 years before it was turned into a museum in 1998, and opened to the public. The Diefenbunker, as it is known in conversation, was designed and constructed by The Foundation Company of Montreal. The Diefenbunker was commissioned by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1959, as part of his government’s reaction to escalating tensions in the Cold War. The book is broken down into chapters for:American Bunkers, American ICBM Bases, American SAM Sites, Canadian Bunkers, British Bunkers, Other National Bunkers and Russian FacilitiesAlso included are appendixes on US ICBM sites, US SAM sites, British bunkers, and a list of Canadian “Diefenbunkers.”The book would be a great companion to anyone wanting to visit the Diefenbunker. A truly unique museum, the Diefenbunker is a National Historic Site of Canada. This nondescript building hides an entrance to an underground nuclear tunnel system. Image courtesy of Library and Archive Canada’s Flickr page. That was a trip that brought me closer to my dad and will be a trip that I will never forget.
In reality the bunker was part of an extensive system of shelter facilities for various levels and elements of government across the Canada. Bruce’s note: I actively sought out this story. At one time over 1000 workers were employed on the site.