In photos: Cold War bunker sits under 1870s Aurora farmhouse
Posted August 15, 2016 2:04 pm.
Last Updated August 15, 2016 7:41 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Cold War bunker sits hidden underground in the yard of an 1870s Aurora farmhouse. The 35′ x 60′ room was built as Toronto’s nuclear control centre in the 1960s when threats of hydrogen bombs kept a nation on edge.
Hand-drawn maps of the GTA, boards to calculate the casualties, emergency water tanks and 100 telephone lines are some of the original artifacts that remain.
In the case of a Cold War bombing, officials would have directed rescue operations from within the preparedness centre.
The current owner, Werner Brodbeck, purchased the home from the city in the 1990s when Toronto council was selling off several properties.
Although they have decided to sell now, they want to make sure the property’s historical value is protected.
“This is the last municipal preparedness centre left in Canada, as far as I know,” Brodbeck told CityNews. “There has been interest in the past by developers to purchase the property, and we want to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The homeowners have applied for provincial historic designation for the home and the bunker. They hope to receive that designation within the next couple of months, before the home sells.
The house is listed for $1,595,000.
