Friday, May 30, 2008

A new use for the Bunker?

The County Council are currently looking for a home for Cambridgeshire's archives after a deal to use part of the station redevelopment site fell through. They want to create a new centre with high quality storage and state of the art protection and preservation facilities, that will allow public access.


I have suggested they investigate using the Cold War Bunker off Brooklands avenue, (pictured below with special guest appearance from former Trumpington Conservative Candidate John Ionides)



The bunker was saved from demolition as the Accordia development was being built when it became a listed building - which was absolutely the right decision, it is vital that we keep buildings like this and don't lose what is a significant reminder of our recent history.

I'm not at all sure of the size of the building or suitability, but it appears to be reasonable large and recently gained planning permission to turn it into a document store. I just think it would be apt to have a historical building with local government connections serving a more peaceful purpose looking after and providing access to historical local information.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The use of the former Cold War RSG bunker as the local archive - and museum - would be a perfect use for the building. The interior has many fascinating possibilities, especially the 1950s part, which is very evocative. Most of the fixtures and fittings are dated 1964. There is more than enough space for archival storage rooms, reading rooms, staff areas, public canteen, and museum display spaces. The old Map Room could perhaps be restored to its 1950s condition, to show how WWIII was expected to have developed in Eastern England? Or, the same room could be restored to show how it was used, by NATO, during the post-Cold War, Gulf War I? All of which is now history.