What's Inside?

What's Inside?. Fallout Shelter. , The Aiken Municipal Fallout Shelter is now empty, but in the late 1960s, it was stocked with food and regularly tested and maintained. It is a small concrete building buried under a mound of earth at Park Avenue and Laurens Street. This fallout out shelter was designed to accommodate between six to eight people for two weeks or longer during a fallout event. Construction was completed in September of 1960 during a time of great tension between the United States and the USSR. Funding for the construction came from the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, while the City of Aiken provided the land and furnishings. Local business and merchants were asked to keep the shelter stocked with provisions. This fallout shelter was maintained until 1970 when it was sealed after a series of break-ins., The proximity of the “Dupont Bomb Plant” added to the fears of the surrounding communities. Many believed that in the event of a Soviet attack, the Savannah River Plant would be a target. The Aiken Municipal Fallout Shelter was meant to serve as a model for surrounding communities in the push for civil defense highlighting Aiken’s importance during the Cold War., Fallout Shelters were touted as home improvement projects that could increase the value of homes. Local real estate advertisements in the 1960s listed fallout shelters along side swimming pools and fenced in backyards as selling points., Where are they? , Municipal fallout shelters were built underground of incorporated into existing public and private buildings. Individuals were encouraged to build their own fallout shelters at home as well. During the Cold War, the National Fallout Shelter Survey identified thousands of existing buildings as suitable fallout shelters and stocked them with food and supplies. In addition, many local residents built home fallout shelters in Aiken.