[MassHistPres] Bomb shelter

[Cupfish Cupfish]

I posted this over the summer and don't know if it was received, as I was 
then having listserv mail problems.  My apologies if this is a repeat.

How important is it to preserve a 1950 backyard bomb shelter?  The structure 
has a concrete floor about 12'x12', with masonry block walls on 3 sides.  
The entrance side has a heavy wooden outside door with another interior 
wooden door that closes from the inside. (Scary!)  The bunker is 
south-facing, dug into a small hillock.  The ceiling was originally 
underground; huge wooden beams with layers of roofing materials on top, then 
the dirt.  It's the ceiling that's deteriorating and will cave in without 
preservation.  The man who built it was the Civil Defense coordinator for 
our community.

This is one of those preservation jobs that has pretty much no benefit for 
the homeowner, but I think it's also a real piece of American history.  The 
public bomb shelters have almost all disappeared and been converted to other 
uses.  I found no information about backyard bomb shelter preservation.  Can 
anyone think of who to contact to find out what other people have done to 
preserve Cold War icons like this?

Anne Kornitsky
Oakham MA
508 882 3777