NEW SUDBURY'S BEST KEPT SECRET: THE NORAD COMMUNICATIONS BUNKER
During the Cold War, the age of paranoia from 1958 to 1974, the Bell Canada building at 1400 Lasalle Boulevard was the site of a secret North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) communications bunker, which was built on the back of the building on Sparks Street. Its purpose was to monitor the air space over North America.
NORAD was a joint USA-Canada organization created in 1957 as a response to the military threat presented by the Soviet Union. The bunkers provided aerospace warnings if enemy missiles or aircraft were headed towards North America. Air raid warning horns were set up in every town to alert everyone of pending air attack threats. The horns were visible on high posts. They occasionally were tested and the loud horns would sound.
During the construction of this facility, everything was covered to avoid questioning. No one was allowed near this construction site. The flat roof extension, still visible at the back of the building, was constructed of 24-inch-thick concrete with reinforced concrete 1/4 inch rebar that went 15 to 20 feet down. The bunker was equipped with a decontamination chamber, an air filter, a shower room, a backup power supply for one month and a two-month food and water supply for the technicians. For extra precaution, there was a 5,000-gallon diesel fuel tank under the building, should war interrupt the supply of fuel.
The communications room was connected to 132 sites in North America, from the Pacific to Atlantic coast and far north as Frobisher Bay and Alaska, as well as Australia. If an attack were to take down the North Bay operation, Sudbury was far enough away to continue to ensure communications from northern Ontario.
Eight to ten Bell employees were contracted to NORAD and for those years essentially worked for NORAD. There were four men on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Prior to assuming their responsibilities, these employees were brought before a judge, were read Section 14 of the Official Secrets Act and were required to sign an oath of secrecy.
The bunkers are no longer a secret and most of them were eventually disassembled. The few exceptions were kept as heritage and museum sites. An example is the "Diefenbunker" in Carp, Ontario, built during John Diefenbaker's time as Prime Minister to house the top Federal politicians in the event of an attack• it was one of a number of similar bunkers built across the Country.
All bunkers featured an emergency CBC broadcast centre. The employees came through a walkway at the top entrance, and locked the sealed door behind them. No unauthorized person was allowed entry. The bunker is now an empty storage space that can be used by Bell Canada.
Source: “New Sudbury Not As New As You Think” (2015)
NEW SUDBURY'S BEST KEPT SECRET: THE NORAD COMMUNICATIONS BUNKER
During the Cold War, the age of paranoia from 1958 to 1974, the Bell Canada building at 1400 Lasalle Boulevard was the site of a secret North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) communications bunker, which was built on the back of the building on Sparks Street. Its purpose was to monitor the air space over North America.
NORAD was a joint USA-Canada organization created in 1957 as a response to the military threat presented by the Soviet Union. The bunkers provided aerospace warnings if enemy missiles or aircraft were headed towards North America. Air raid warning horns were set up in every town to alert everyone of pending air attack threats. The horns were visible on high posts. They occasionally were tested and the loud horns would sound.
During the construction of this facility, everything was covered to avoid questioning. No one was allowed near this construction site. The flat roof extension, still visible at the back of the building, was constructed of 24-inch-thick concrete with reinforced concrete 1/4 inch rebar that went 15 to 20 feet down. The bunker was equipped with a decontamination chamber, an air filter, a shower room, a backup power supply for one month and a two-month food and water supply for the technicians. For extra precaution, there was a 5,000-gallon diesel fuel tank under the building, should war interrupt the supply of fuel.
The communications room was connected to 132 sites in North America, from the Pacific to Atlantic coast and far north as Frobisher Bay and Alaska, as well as Australia. If an attack were to take down the North Bay operation, Sudbury was far enough away to continue to ensure communications from northern Ontario.
Eight to ten Bell employees were contracted to NORAD and for those years essentially worked for NORAD. There were four men on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Prior to assuming their responsibilities, these employees were brought before a judge, were read Section 14 of the Official Secrets Act and were required to sign an oath of secrecy.
The bunkers are no longer a secret and most of them were eventually disassembled. The few exceptions were kept as heritage and museum sites. An example is the "Diefenbunker" in Carp, Ontario, built during John Diefenbaker's time as Prime Minister to house the top Federal politicians in the event of an attack• it was one of a number of similar bunkers built across the Country.
All bunkers featured an emergency CBC broadcast centre. The employees came through a walkway at the top entrance, and locked the sealed door behind them. No unauthorized person was allowed entry.
The bunker is now an empty storage space that can be used by Bell Canada.
Source: “New Sudbury Not As New As You Think” (2015)