Survival condos
See out the apocalypse in luxury missile silo
When the complex is completed, there will be an indoor farm, designed to supply enough fish and vegetables to feed 70 people for as long as they need to stay underground.
The view may not be great, but features include nine-foot-thick walls, military-grade security and a spa. Welcome to Salina, Kansas, where a former Cold War missile silo is being transformed into a complex of subterranean luxury condos, allowing buyers to see out the apocalypse in comfort.
The apartments start at $1 million US each and come complete with a wind turbine, solar panels and facilities to cultivate hydroponically grown food.
As well as an electrified fence and biometric locks, the complex will boast an indoor pool, a cinema and a gym.
So far, four buyers have put down a total of about $7 million on havens for when disaster strikes.
“They worry about events ranging from solar flares to economic collapse to pandemics to terrorism to food shortages,” says developer Larry Hall, who has reserved one of the apartments for himself. He fears that the Earth will be plunged into chaos by a catastrophic solar flare that will wipe out the power grid.
For the time being, however, his bunker is a holiday home.
The exact location of the silo, which stretches 53 metres underground, is a secret. The living units are being built within a steel and concrete structure inside the original thick concrete to make them more resistant to earthquakes.
When the complex is completed, there will be an indoor farm, designed to supply enough fish and vegetables to feed 70 people for as long as they need to stay underground. Inhabitants will be expected to store sufficient dry goods to feed themselves for five years. Residents will have access to a library and surgery. Electronic screens will act as faux windows, displaying views of one’s choice.
Shelters designed to survive an apocalyptic event may constitute a niche market, but experts believe demand is increasing in the United States. The financial crisis, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina highlighted the fragility of modern life to a culture susceptible to predictions of apocalypse, pundits argue. It’s estimated that as many as three million Americans are preparing for some kind of catastrophe.
“Fear sells even better than sex,” says John Hoopes, a professor at the University of Kansas who has studied the spread of doomsday culture. “People don’t like to feel they’re the only ones fearing the inevitable, which is each individual’s personal death.”
Times of London
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