September 23, 2002
It’s a sign of the times post Sept. 11:Your own private James Bond 007 secret lair.
"From the surface this home looks ordinary and fitting. But down below the ground lies a home in the place of a Missile Launch Control Centre," reads an eBay ad for this `House for Sale’. "Secure steel doors keep the unwanted out. The ability to take off and land from the backyard in your own private aircraft gives you the ultimate in freedom and flexibility. This could be your weapon against growing world terrorism."
Has overdosing on CNN got us all in a panic?
Going underground to your bunker has been around since the hippie era of the 1960s. But the locale of this 007 lair is no California commune, nor is it on the isolated Welsh coast.
It’s "nestled in the Adirondack State Park between Lake Champlain and Lake Placid, overlooking the Saranac River Valley in Saranac, New York. (Given all the water, a yacht might make a better escape than your own private aircraft, which you would have to learn to pilot).
"Adirondack Airpark Estates (NY17) is the perfect getaway," says the ad. A short drive brings you to Lake Placid (35 min), Plattsburg (30 min), Saranac Lake (10 min) and Montreal (1 hr. 20 min)."
In addition to 98 acres of manicured ground, there is an FAA/DOT-approved private, paved 2,050-ft. runway, privacy, security and low taxes. There are year-round activities and a "knowledgeable caretaker" waiting to be hired.
Don’t let the Atlas-F Missile Silo home intimidate you. There’s an above ground house that comes with it. The above ground house features an open floor plan with an island fireplace.
There’s no white picket fence, but there is a wraparound covered porch.
If hubby likes tinkering on his Bentley in the garage, a large garage, which has a secret escape hatch leading to the underground, comes with the house.
And, oh yes, "the entire site has been tested and the results show that the LCC silo and surrounding area has no contamination. (Absolutely no biosolids (human excrement) are used to fertilize any farmlands around here, dahlings).
The actual silo is a seven-floor superstructure that hangs from a gigantic spring suspension system designed in the `50s "to absorb the shock of direct nuclear hit".
The concept of the 007 lair is just as interesting…"We took the end result of $18 million in government wasted spending ($315 in today’s dollars) and turned it into a rare and unique private airport mountain getaway."
The property is being sold via an auction process by a company called TransRow…"Once you contact TansRow, a representative will request information to confirm your ability to purchase the item and intent to complete the transaction. The representative will also make inquiries that are designed to confirm your identity. TransRow will request information including but not limited to: banking contacts, business information and financial status. P.S.:"The seller will also require refundable deposit of $5 million."
If world leaders can have their own underground hidey-holes, why can’t Jeeve’s employers?
According to the Internet, "There is said to be a large underground bunker at the White House, and another one beneath Camp David in case the president happened to be there when an attack takes place.
"There’s a bunker beneath the Pentagon, but the Pentagon’s main underground facility appears to be a place called Raven Rock in Pennsylvania. Everyone knows about NORAD, built inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado.
"Mount Weather, constructed in the 1950s in a mountain in Virginia, is a self-sufficient underground city, built to house the U.S. government in the event of a nuclear attack. It is now said to be the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)."
For the rich, famous and vulnerable to attack not in government, there is a revival of the nuclear bunkers of the 1970s.
According to Bill Rigdon, of the Los Angeles based security company Building Consensus, `panic rooms’ can now be found in hundreds of up-market homes across the U.S.
"Child abduction, stalkings, home invasions and random attacks, Americans have plenty to fear, but Rigdon says "It was the attacks on Sept. 11 which really shook Americans to the core and added the fear of international terrorism to well-developed anxieties about home-grown lunatics."
Panic rooms, which can be built for as little as $10,000, are usually constructed in existing ground floor rooms with no windows. Walls and ceilings are strengthened, bullet/blast resistant sheeting is installed and the room is completed with a bullet/blast proof door with a dead-lock bolt.
Going underground as a new trend may in the 21st century lead to a new pop culture. Mothers will order wayward children: "Go to your bunker!"
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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