Update June 13, 9:00 a.m.: According to Brown Paper Tickets, this event is now sold out with no wait list.
Although thousands of fallout shelters were built during the Cold War on private property, the first and only shelter constructed under a public roadway is right in Roosevelt’s backyard.
Completed in 1963, this prototype fallout shelter is located under I-5 at Weedin Place N.E. and N.E. 68th Street, between the Roosevelt and Green Lake neighborhoods. In more recent years, the shelter has had a less ominous job: a storage facility for WSDOT records.
If you’ve ever wanted to see what a bomb shelter looks like on the inside, you’re in luck.
Docomomo WEWA, a local non-profit community of individuals who share a passion for Northwest Modernism, will be offering tours of the shelter on June 26. WSDOT Historian Craig Holstine will lead the tours and will be able to answer questions about this unique piece of local history from the Cold War Era.
My Green Lake blog has a great summary of the shelter’s history.
- WHAT: Tour of the I-5 Fallout Shelter
- WHEN: Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
- REGISTRATION: Each tour is limited to 30 people. Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets for $5, plus a $1.17 service fee. Tickets will NOT be sold on site.
- MORE INFORMATION: See the Docomomo WEWA or Brown Paper Tickets websites.
