The Strangelove Suite: Northern Ireland sells nuclear bunker
Posted February 04, 2016 6:00 am
BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland (AP) - It has no windows - but offers unrestricted views of Armageddon.
Northern Ireland is selling its Cold War-era nuclear bunker, an underground installation with room for 235 beds that sellers imagine could be transformed into a tourist attraction or blast-proof storage facility.
Journalists took a tour Thursday of one of Northern Ireland's strangest real estate offerings. For 575,000 pounds ($850,000), the successful buyer could acquire a 46,363-square-foot (4,300-square-meter) grass-topped building discretely situated on 3.74 acres (1.51 hectares) of rolling fields northwest of Belfast.
Northern Ireland's leaders have decided they can survive without the bunker, which was built in the 1980s to protect key government and legal figures from a Russian nuclear strike. The facility includes a conference room and broadcasting suite. Its existence was a state secret until 2007.
Some of the sleeping quarters inside the nuclear bunker that was built during the cold war in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Northern Ireland is selling its Cold War-era nuclear bunker, an underground installation with room for 235 beds that sellers imagine could be transformed into a tourist attraction or blast-proof storage facility. Journalists took a tour Thursday of Northern Irelandâs strangest real estate offering. For 575,000 pounds ($850,000), the successful buyer could acquire a 46,363-square-foot (4,300-square-meter) grass-topped building discretely situated on 3.74 acres (1.51 hectares) of rolling grassland northwest of Belfast. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
The Associated Press
The electrical control room inside the Nuclear bunker that was built during the cold war in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Northern Ireland is selling its Cold War-era nuclear bunker, an underground installation with room for 235 beds that sellers imagine could be transformed into a tourist attraction or blast-proof storage facility. Journalists took a tour Thursday of Northern Irelandâs strangest real estate offering. For 575,000 pounds ($850,000), the successful buyer could acquire a 46,363-square-foot (4,300-square-meter) grass-topped building discretely situated on 3.74 acres (1.51 hectares) of rolling grassland northwest of Belfast. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
The Associated Press
Interior view of the nuclear bunker that was built during the cold war in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Northern Ireland is selling its Cold War-era nuclear bunker, an underground installation with room for 235 beds that sellers imagine could be transformed into a tourist attraction or blast-proof storage facility. Journalists took a tour Thursday of Northern Irelandâs strangest real estate offering. For 575,000 pounds ($850,000), the successful buyer could acquire a 46,363-square-foot (4,300-square-meter) grass-topped building discretely situated on 3.74 acres (1.51 hectares) of rolling grassland northwest of Belfast. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
The Associated Press
The electrical control room inside the nuclear bunker that was built during the cold war in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Northern Ireland is selling its Cold War-era nuclear bunker, an underground installation with room for 235 beds that sellers imagine could be transformed into a tourist attraction or blast-proof storage facility. Journalists took a tour Thursday of Northern Irelandâs strangest real estate offering. For 575,000 pounds ($850,000), the successful buyer could acquire a 46,363-square-foot (4,300-square-meter) grass-topped building discretely situated on 3.74 acres (1.51 hectares) of rolling grassland northwest of Belfast. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
The Associated Press
The main conference and control room inside the nuclear bunker that was built during the cold war in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Northern Ireland is selling its Cold War-era nuclear bunker, an underground installation with room for 235 beds that sellers imagine could be transformed into a tourist attraction or blast-proof storage facility. Journalists took a tour Thursday of Northern Irelandâs strangest real estate offering. For 575,000 pounds ($850,000), the successful buyer could acquire a 46,363-square-foot (4,300-square-meter) grass-topped building discretely situated on 3.74 acres (1.51 hectares) of rolling grassland northwest of Belfast. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
The Associated Press
Blast doors that protects the entrance to the nuclear bunker that was built during the cold war in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Northern Ireland is selling its Cold War-era nuclear bunker, an underground installation with room for 235 beds that sellers imagine could be transformed into a tourist attraction or blast-proof storage facility. Journalists took a tour Thursday of Northern Irelandâs strangest real estate offering. For 575,000 pounds ($850,000), the successful buyer could acquire a 46,363-square-foot (4,300-square-meter) grass-topped building discretely situated on 3.74 acres (1.51 hectares) of rolling grassland northwest of Belfast. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
The Associated Press
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