Photographer hopes to convert bunker into Cold War museum

By Lacey Morris

EDMONTON — A photographer and his business partner are working with city officials to transform one of west Edmonton’s forgotten historical structures into a Cold War museum.

Fred Armbruster of Metabolic Photography stumbled upon a small, mysterious, shack-type structure when he first moved to the city 13 years ago, upon exploring the service bridge that runs across the McKenzie ravine in the west end community of Crestwood.

The structure, located on the north side of the ravine at 9408 146 St and sectioned off within a chain-link fence, is the entrance to one of Edmonton’s two civil defence bunkers.

History

The shelter was built in 1953 following an announcement made by the government of Ottawa regarding the construction of two huge national defence projects in correlation with the Cold War.

The other bunker is located in a basement on 146 Street. It was built to be occupied by important members of the city, such as the mayor and aldermen, if nuclear war were to strike.

“Ottawa announced these big projects and Edmonton got on side too,” said Edmonton’s historian laureate, Ken Tingley. “The Edmonton Civil Defense Committee held its first meeting five days later, on April 10, 1951, at a temporary location.”

Tingley also noted that there was a provincial centre in Penhold, Alta., designed to accommodate provincial-level government officials such as the premier.

In the summer of 2006, Tingley, alongside several associates, explored the shelter. They were the first to set foot in it in 27 years.

At that time, the bunker was one of 100 buildings in the city that the Edmonton Historical Board wanted to add to its register of historic resources. It has since been added to that roster.

Exploration

Armbruster, who has a knack for high dynamic range (HDR) photography and documentaries, got inspired to further explore the history of the shelter with the intent to pursue it as a personal project.  He spent much of his time in the municipal and provincial archives digging up what information was available.

“One of the aspects that really grasped me was that it was an abandoned site, it was long forgotten, it was unknown what was inside — it was sort of that mystical aspect,” Armbruster said.

After a year of discussion with the city about getting inside of the bunker to take a closer look and snap some photos, Armbruster was granted permission, although several safety precautions were taken. Clad in a hazardous materials protection suit, Armbruster took one giant step towards achieving his goal.

“When we entered, it was almost like being in a cave — completely unknown and unexplored,” he said. “There was no knowing exactly how many floors were in there. We didn’t know that it was cosmetically stripped of all the building materials. It was quite exhilarating.”

Historical Relevance

Tingley views the shelter as a significant part of Edmonton’s history, one that not a lot of people take into consideration today, as the Cold War era took place from the 1940s to the early 1990s and has since been swept aside.

The Cold War was a time of extreme military and political tension between Communist and Western Countries. Although a physical war never took place between the United States and the USSR, the era was marked most notably by the nuclear arms race, the space race, military coalitions and propaganda.

“I think it’s extremely important because we have physical reminders of a lot of other periods of our history,” Tingley said.

A member of the baby-boomer generation, and well aware that Edmonton has an aging demographic, Tingley believes that the conversion of the structure into a museum or “interpretive centre” will give younger generations the opportunity to take interest in that part of the city’s history.

“There’s not much to remind us of that long period of time that was the Cold War, and that most of us who are [a part of the] baby-boomer generation grew up in it and it really shaped our attitudes towards a lot of things,” Tingley said.

Conversion

Working with several city officials and his business partner, Shawn Gilhespy, Armbruster is in the midst of seeing his Cold War museum project come to fruition.

“Every single department in the city has given their approval, except for the Parks department, we’re still waiting on [them], but the city said, ‘Let’s go ahead and start preparing for leasing,’ ” he said. “So I’m currently working with a leasing department.”

The most important things at this point, Armbruster noted, is that the facility be cleaned and disinfected to meet inspection standards. The work that needs to be done is minor, as the structure itself will not be modified.

“Once it’s clean and approval is given for the electrical and all that stuff then we can go ahead and start the restoration,” Armbruster said. “The restoration itself won’t take long at all because it’s purely cosmetic.”

Armbruster and Gilhespy are currently running a website that offers information about and artifacts of the Cold War.

Community Impact

There has been lot of positive feedback from members of the community regarding the conversion of the civil defence bunker, Armbruster and Tingley said.

Having been abandoned for over 20 years, the current state of the structure has attracted crime and vandalism, as abandoned buildings usually do. Armbruster and Tingley believe the conversion will help bring a piece of Edmonton’s history back to the community.

“If anything, it’s going to create a safer area with more security because of increased traffic and augmentation of the shelter,” Armbruster said. “It’s a historical piece so it brings a richness back to that area that no one else in the city of Edmonton has. It’s something to be proud of.”

Armbruster said that ideally he would like to have the revitalized structure pass inspection by spring of 2012 so that they can begin to incorporate artifacts and informative tools, and ultimately have the Cold War museum up and running by 2013.