Plans for museum in 'secret' underground bunker approved
Plans for a museum in a 'secret underground bunker' beneath Edinburgh's Corstorphine Hill have been given the greenlight
Edinburgh City Council have approved plans for a new museum to be build beneath Corstorphine Hill.
The development would be based in a previously secret underground cold war era bunker.
The Barnton Quarry bunker, which sits 100ft below the hill, has been out of use for nearly 40 years.
Between 1946 and 1982 the bunker served as the RAF's operations command centre for all of Scotland's radar stations.
Volunteers have spent over a decade clearing and repairing the site to allow it to open to the public for the first time.
Stretching three floors deep underground, the blast-proof hideout was ‘specifically designed to withstand Russian attack’.
During the 1960s, the top secret labyrinth was re-designated as a ‘Regional Seat of Government’ and equipped to accommodate 400 politicians and civil servants for up to a month in the event of nuclear war breaking out.
The team behind the project say they are planning to use “interactive technology” in the museum and install “rotating exhibits, all relevant to the teaching of RAF and Cold War history”.
And those hoping to pay a visit might not have to wait too much longer – after planning permission for a change of use, refurbishment and upgrading of the nuclear bunker was granted by the City of Edinburgh Council on Monday (February 14).
Plans state: “The gradual refurbishment has been ongoing for over a decade, working gradually with the involvement of the local community to put right the fire ravaged shell and reinstate the interior authentically.
“Scotcrown are the experienced operator in this field as they already run Scotland’s Secret Bunker in Fife and as such have well established contacts to assist them in the task of this sensitive restoration.
“The vandalism that preceded Scotcrown’s acquisition of this unique slice of Edinburgh’s more recent history is well on the way to being rectified – this proposal seeks to secure a viable future to ensure that good work is built upon and the complex maintained for the benefit and interest of future generations.
“Scotcrown’s aspirations for the site has always been the restoration of the bunker into an authentic, historically accurate representation of the functioning bunker.
“To this end it has been a gradual labour of love for many years now, with the
growing involvement of enthusiasts and the local community. It is fully envisaged that this relationship and involvement will continue and continue to prosper and develop into the future.
“Our brief has been to crystallise the remainder of the exercise into the formal construction project required to deliver the finished article and to deliver the formal consents required to operate a viable and prosperous business into the future.”