Final days loom for town's nuclear bunker

A nuclear bunker in a Sussex town centre is set to finally end its days next year.
Nuclear bunker beneath Crawley Town Hall in The Boulevard SUS-170505-160856001Nuclear bunker beneath Crawley Town Hall in The Boulevard SUS-170505-160856001
Nuclear bunker beneath Crawley Town Hall in The Boulevard SUS-170505-160856001

The bunker - beneath Crawley Town Hall - will be demolished, along with the town hall itself, if major redevelopment plans for 250 new homes, offices and a new town hall go ahead as planned.

The bunker was built in 1979 with the aid of Home Office cash and was originally intended as a control centre in the event of nuclear attack.

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Access was via a heavy steel and concrete blast door into a decontamination room which had a huge communal tiled shower which could accommodate eight people at a time.

Inside the nuclear bunker beneath Crawley Town Hall SUS-170505-160831001Inside the nuclear bunker beneath Crawley Town Hall SUS-170505-160831001
Inside the nuclear bunker beneath Crawley Town Hall SUS-170505-160831001

The bunker is located in a basement at the town hall in The Boulevard and, although de-commissioned and no longer operational, it still retains many of its original features.

However, a spokeswoman for Crawley Borough Council, said an ‘escape tunnel’ from the building had now been filled in. And, she added: “The council doesn’t have any plans to build a nuclear bunker elsewhere.”

Rooms in Crawley’s nuclear bunker have mostly been stripped in recent years and the bunker used for ballot box storage and election material.