Paging Dr.
Strangelove:
The bunker below
the Greenbrier Resort
In the darkest hours
of the Cold War, the U.S. government excavated a deep hole under
one of the nation’s most exclusive hotels, the Greenbrier Resort in
White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., to create a bomb-resistant bunker
where Congress could shelter in case of a nuclear attack. When
completed around 1962, the 112,000-square-foot subterranean complex
featured two-foot-thick concrete walls, 25-ton steel doors,
state-of-the-art communications and complete medical facilities.
For 30 years, few people knew about it.
The secret facility was revealed in press accounts in 1992,
and today, the once-classified site is available for theme parties,
receptions and meetings, offering five refurbished meeting rooms
ranging from 670 to 730 square feet.