Sam Champion and the Top Secret Nuclear Bunker

Oct. 29, 2008 — -- For more than a century, the Greenbrier Hotel has been a summer home for the wealthy and elite, from princes to presidents.

But throughout the Cold War, the West Virginia resort also kept one of the nation's most important secrets.

For more information on the secret bunker, check out the Greenbrier Web site by clicking here.

Flashback to 1956: The fear of nuclear attack on Washington was real.

That spring Congress sent the Capitol's architect on a mission: persuade the Greenbrier to build a new underground wing. The new wing was to be a top secret bunker, designed to house more than 1,000 members of Congress and staff.

"They weren't just going to bring selected individuals," said local historian Robert Conte. "The whole point was that Congress could continue to function as the legislative branch of the federal government."

At first, hotel workers gossiped about the strange construction, but eventually those stories faded to whispers. Conte, who worked at the Greenbrier, remembered the day in 1978 when he stumbled upon a strange door while out on a wooded road nearby.

"I was afraid, I mean I was afraid," Conte said. "It was like, 'I'm not supposed to be seeing this, and I'm going to turn around and walk away and I'm going to pretend I never saw that.'"

If Conte had gone just a little farther, he would have found a 25-ton blast door. The entrance, called the West Tunnel, was a lifeline for the bunker, designed to bring supplies in at night undercover, or get a large group inside quickly.

"One of the keys to this whole operation is that the bunker was maintained at a constant rate of readiness," Conte said.

That meant the government had to think of everything -- a hospital clinic, a fully stocked cafeteria, a communications center, a power plant and beds already made. A hidden antenna would test for a nuclear fallout. There was even a television studio where Congress could speak to the public.

Even the hotel's two public auditoriums were side by side for a reason -- one for the House and one for the Senate.

Conte said that, looking back, it seems so obvious.

"It was right in front of our nose," he said. "One of the principles of the bunker was hiding in plain sight."