Visiting The Bunker

Recently I visited The Bunker.

Built into the side of Bare Mountain in Amherst, Massachusetts before I was born.

It was built for the Cold War, and housed a communications center for Strategic Air Command. Reportedly it had something to do with the Cuban Missile Crisis, an event near and dear to my heart. Really.

And now it is owned by Amherst College. It houses archives and old books from the Five Colleges.

Inside it is tidy, and there are no windows.

There are a few artifacts here and there. Like this clipping from a German newspaper. This article is about how the former Cold-War bunker now houses the DEFA collection of former East-German films. DEFA kindly arranged the tour.

There were many shelves like these. They are taller than they look and see those tracks on the floor. These shelves can move.

East-German films.

Many, many of them.

One part of The Bunker contained their old 'computer' room which was probably cleaned out in 1971. I think that the room housed communications equipment. Here's the door.

Here's what is left of the elevated floor.

The room overlooks a large room which had 'the big board' - the command center.

Now it has storage from Amherst college.

Does this remind you of Citizen Kane?

And now your visit has ended too.