The story behind the Bunker suggests the plot of an Ian Fleming or Robert Ludlum thriller. Alas, the story is real.
In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched Project Greek Island, the construction of a 112,544-square-foot underground bunker 720 feet into a hillside on the grounds of the stately Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. The Bunker was to shelter the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and top aides in the event of a nuclear attack on Washington, D.C. — 250 miles northeast of the hotel. A staff of government workers, posing as employees of Forsyth Associates, an audio-visual service, maintained the facility.
Closed in 1992 after The Washington Post exposed its existence, the Bunker recently reopened as a museum. Visitors enter through a secret passage in the Greenbrier, then pass decontamination showers where resident dignitaries would have stripped and, it was hoped, cleansed themselves of radioactive contamination. The tour moves on to dormitories lined with bunk beds, a cafeteria that was ready to serve meals and a pharmacy that was stocked with anti-depressants and the medical records for members of Congress. The Bunker was equipped to house residents for up to 60 days, though the supply of fresh air would have been depleted after 72 hours, forcing the opening of windows to possibly contaminated air.
Once considered an artifact that said as much about the '50s as Elvis, Edsels and Ed Sullivan, the Bunker acquired unsettling contemporary resonance after 9/11. The story continues.