Houston Fallout Shelters

[FIREhat]

That's incredible, I had no idea anything like that was anywhere around here.

In the Briargrove neighborhood, I don't recall where exactly, there is a house that supposedly has a large fallout shelter underneath it. That lot and part of the lot next door, which is empty, are clearly elevated a few feet so it would make sense. Anyone know the place I'm thinking of?

[houpro]

On South Main in late 50's or early 60's was a place that sold pre built shelters that

you'd insert into holes dug in your backyard; will have to go google for pics of these

kind of shelters

[Vertigo58]

yes, this is an old topic but with the ever present threat of hurricanes, are there places ready for hundreds of Houstonians to flock to?

40 plus years ago it straight to nearby high schools that seemed like a joke now. Where do you go when the police come hitting on your door in an approaching storm????

Especially for those inside the 610 loop near downtown.

[brerrabbit]

Not for the publics use but out in Hockley in the middle of Tennwood (the old employees country club) sits a ranch style house that is actually an underground bunker that houses "Gas Control" which is the nerve center if you will of their gas pipeline. El Paso Energy now owns it and it was built during the cold war so they buried it under ground in case of nuclear attack. Not sure of its value though because all the gas pipelines it controls would have been blown to bits in the case of attack but at least the gas controllers would have been safe.

yes, this is an old topic but with the ever present threat of hurricanes, are there places ready for hundreds of Houstonians to flock to?

40 plus years ago it straight to nearby high schools that seemed like a joke now. Where do you go when the police come hitting on your door in an approaching storm????

Especially for those inside the 610 loop near downtown.

Yeah, its called Dallas.

[KristinDaugherty]

It's actually off of 105 in Montgomery County. I was in taht one when it was under construction. Pretty cool place - lots of room for several hundred people, including cells for unruly ones. It was built by a chinese millionaire, and was next door to the offices of his oil company. The entrances were in pagodas, and there was a very large pond above the shelter.

105 and what, might I ask? I have a buddy who lives VERY close to 105 and 1774, and if I get to her place with enough time to spare, I'd love to do a drive-by.

HEEEEY, wait a second! Are we talking about Louis C. Kung? (Not to be confused with comedian Louie C.K., of course.)

'Cause if we are, I used to work with his son.

[memebag]

yes, this is an old topic but with the ever present threat of hurricanes, are there places ready for hundreds of Houstonians to flock to?

I'm no hydrologist, but I'm thinking a hole in the ground isn't the best place to hide from water.

[Vertigo58]

So the large city of Houston has no real shelters for the public then it seems. So a mass exodus is the answer. Thats is a sad revelation.

[KristinDaugherty]

That's why most of us have houses, or apartments, or something. I'd far rather take my chances in my house than in something Lee P. Brown commanded the building of.

[RedScare]

That's why most of us have houses, or apartments, or something. I'd far rather take my chances in my house than in something Lee P. Brown commanded the building of.

Something built by Perry Homes, or something built by the Lee Brown Administration....

Frankly, that is not nearly as easy a question to answer as one might think.

So the large city of Houston has no real shelters for the public then it seems. So a mass exodus is the answer. Thats is a sad revelation.

There are actually numerous schools built to withstand hurricanes, precisely so that they can be used as shelters...and more are being built this way daily.

So, no, the revelation is not sad at all.

[e streeter]

a friend's family had a fallout shelter in the linkwood area when i was a kid. i remember we would just stand there looking at the cover asking what was down there. i wonder if the people who live there now, know it is there?

[djrage]

I believe there also/was one under the El Paso (formerly Tenneco) Building.

[ccowles]

Courthouse on shaw in pasadena had the sign as of a couple years ago. The Chronicle had an interesting article in their "texas" magazine on sunday several years ago on homes behind Meyerland with shelters, i believe off Jason street. i guess a builder included them with the house. Kinda pre-fab tubes.

[NekoCase]

Courthouse on shaw in pasadena had the sign as of a couple years ago. The Chronicle had an interesting article in their "texas" magazine on sunday several years ago on homes behind Meyerland with shelters, i believe off Jason street. i guess a builder included them with the house. Kinda pre-fab tubes.

There is an older house in Bellaire behind the high school on the corner of Pine and Ferris that I heard had a bomb shelter. There is a large hill in the front yard.

[editor]

It is a VERY interesting place. Continental Airlines is currently using it as a disaster recovery site. If downtown Houston is wiped out, Continental can continue operations from Weslin. This place is amazing - the security is SUPER tight - it was built as a fallout shelter - and intended to support 100's of people for many months. It had sleeping quarters, doctors offices, and as someone else mentioned - even a jail. Another thing I found interesting were are all the gun turrets located throughout the complex - in those pagodas. Continental has 'reconfigured' the site to support our business recovery operations (installed servers, work stations, ect.). ...but no guns.

I have a ton of pictures - here's a few....

There's a nice article about the Westlin Bunker elsewhere on this web site.

Channel 39 news did a story about it about six years ago. A couple of years ago the owners supplied me with pictures and information for the article linked above. I think it may have changed hands since then, but I'm not sure.

From the article:

Ling-Chieh Kung, nephew of Chiang Kai-sheck, came to Houston in the 1960's to make money during the city's oil boom. He founded Westlin Oil and settled in the outskirts of the northern suburb of Montgomery, and like many Americans at the time, feared nuclear war. He moved acres of earth, and spent millions of dollars to ensure that he could ride out any kind of cataclysm.

[Sisyphys]

The Prudential Building (HMB) in the medical center was a fallout facility complete with cots and pantries full of "tinned" food.  The walls were double brick making it impossible to wire for data communication.   HMB came down in 2012 at a cost of $6M due to the nature of the bomb proof structural integrity.   There was a mural in the lobby painted by Peter Hurd worth $3M that was left in the building due to the expense of removing it.

[cspwal]

On 11/10/2005 at 9:41 AM, Crash said:

Well on the HAIF site (outside of the discussion forums)

http://houstonarchitecture.info/ShowBuilding.php?ID=90

it says that underneath the downtown Foley's there's a fairly substantial shelter.

In the 1960's, the city built a massive nuclear fallout shelter in case of attack by the Soviet Union. The cavernous shelter is big enough to hold 30,000 people in addition to the supplies they need to survive.

I have no idea whether this is true or not ------ frankly the 30K number seems a little dubious to me.

Might have to call shenanigans on that one.

Anyone out there know anything about this?

Intersting tidbit in this old thread; was there any evidence of it when they demolished Foley's  Macy's?

[Dustin]

40 minutes ago, Sisyphys said:

  HMB came down in 2012 at a cost of $6M due to the nature of the bomb proof structural integrity.  

 

There was a mural in the lobby painted by Peter Hurd worth $3M that was left in the building due to the expense of removing it.

Those 2 sentences.........they don't add up. (Excuse the play on words)

They spend 6 million on demolition but save a 3 million dollar piece of art? 

Why doesn't that sit right with me?

[Dustin]

On 6/18/2008 at 9:21 AM, SunKing said:

It is a VERY interesting place. Continental Airlines is currently using it as a disaster recovery site. If downtown Houston is wiped out, Continental can continue operations from Weslin. This place is amazing - the security is SUPER tight - it was built as a fallout shelter - and intended to support 100's of people for many months. It had sleeping quarters, doctors offices, and as someone else mentioned - even a jail. Another thing I found interesting were are all the gun turrets located throughout the complex - in those pagodas. Continental has 'reconfigured' the site to support our business recovery operations (installed servers, work stations, ect.). ...but no guns.

I have a ton of pictures - here's a few....

 

I think fallout shelters like this are more realistic as a natural disaster shelter. Housing people in something like in the event of a nuclear incident seems like an exercise in futility.

[mkultra25]

3 hours ago, Sisyphys said:

 There was a mural in the lobby painted by Peter Hurd worth $3M that was left in the building due to the expense of removing it.

 

The mural was actually moved and is now in New Mexico:

 

M.D. Anderson’s Quiet Preservation Effort: Peter Hurd’s Prudential Mural Has Left the Building

[danielsonr]

41 minutes ago, mkultra25 said:

 

The mural was actually moved and is now in New Mexico:

 

M.D. Anderson’s Quiet Preservation Effort: Peter Hurd’s Prudential Mural Has Left the Building

 

and here it is, installed in the Artesia, NM public library:

 

 

 

http://www.nmmagazine.com/article/?aid=94592#.WC4lYoWcGUk

[mollusk]

There's a good case to be made that the mural is now in a much better place, since it's now much more accessible (at least to people in SE New Mexico).  Lord knows Artesia needs all the help it can get.

[Earlydays]

In the 1950's and 1960's when you went downtown you saw Civil Defense signs everywhere...basically if a building had a a basement level it was a potential shelter.

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

23 hours ago, cspwal said:

Intersting tidbit in this old thread; was there any evidence of it when they demolished Foley's  Macy's?

 

no, the resulting hole in the ground was a typical one level basement. There are many pics in the Foleys/Macy's thread

[mmolina1]

I remember growing up in the East End of Houston, Tx. David G. Burnett Elementary is a fallout shelter...  I remember seeing the radiation sign outside of the building and hearing the air raid siren going off at noon, everyday.  I know where I'm going...