Old Dallas Texas Civil Defense Emergency Operations Center Blast Shelter - Video 1

Here's a quick walk through of the old Dallas Civil Defense Emergency Operations Center / blast shelter.
A big Thanks goes out to the Friends of Fair Park for in invitation to their annual meeting that made this possible!
It's a bit shaky because I had to hold the light in one hand, camera in the other and I had to hurry up because in only have 9.5 minutes of video time on my camera in HD. Finally got a chance to make a video of the place after having the virtual photo tour on my site for over 10 years. I ramble and get distracted a little but I think it makes some sense. I have another video walk through that's almost the same but I'll upload it too anyway.

[@davidfromtexas9681]

That is really cool. When I was a kid we took a field trip to the museum and we toured this facility and it was still in operation in those days. Thank you for this video. I hadn't thought about that in years.

[@bigbangbop]

I attended pre-school classes at Fair Park circa 1970, in that building. My most vivid memory of that time is this shelter. When they had the open house for parents and students one evening, they had the shelter open and we were able to go down and take a tour - it was still fully stocked with food and supplies and even had a medical clinic (when I saw that, I was pretty sure it was all just a trap in order to give me a shot of some sort 😂) The beds were bolted to the wall and stacked vertically, similar to what you see in submarines. I'll never forget the hair on the back of my neck standing up as we started down the stairs, seeing the massive hydraulic blast door, and knowing why that bunker existed. I got the exact same feeling this morning, after poking around the internet and finding this video. Very very cool.

[@nancyhicksgribble9799]

I'm not sure why people don't utilize these as storm shelters, so cool. Can you imagine this being all stocked? Would be cool to have it as a display, like a museum walkthrough exhibit. A church in my hometown had a shelter built in its basement, still. Stocked with water barrels, a huge kitchen, a hydraulic door.

[@living2ndchildhood347]

Every old CD shelter should be reequipped and used by the Office of Emergency Management. IMO, we need to reequip all the old designated Fallout Shelters and start constructing new shelters, making Civil Defense the 4th leg of deterence.

[@bigbangbop]

Those shelters were absolutely worthless in the event of an actual nuclear attack. But they made everybody feel better at least.

[@anonthegreat1098]

@@bigbangbop why?

[@isaacostlund]

@@anonthegreat1098 because they say so. There are a lot of people who adhere to the idea that "if a bomb drops its all over" despite little evidence to that effect. Yes at "Ground zero" there will be little hope, but these shelters are not for the (relatively) small center of wherever a bomb hits. They are for the ensuing shockwave, firestorm, and fallout spreading out from ground zero, all of which can have many survivors and would need an organized response center to save thousands of lives.

[@Screch]

Agree

[@anonthegreat1098]

@@isaacostlund they seem pretty useful to me

[@hihu7200]

This would be a good emergency operations center if remodeled. It would be good for a FEMA or another department like that.

[@yrula8]

Well what do you know, an actual video to show the grandkids. We were watching the series Fallout with the grandkids, they asked if places like that really did exist in the 50's, I told them not only in the 50's but in the 60's also. Told them the story of going to the Science museum at Fair Park around 1969 or 1970, it was part of the museum exhibit/tour. Being 12 at that time it seem d really big, now watching the video, it sure is small. Kind of wished I still had the 8mm film my dad took of me and my little brother walking around in it. To much history vanishing now days. I remember Montgomery County Courthouse had a sign up, I want to say the shelter was under the Courthouse, but now it's just a parking area. Thanks for the vids.

[@billythekid3234]

Sir, ty so much for this wonderful video! When I was young about 8 or 9 We woulf go to the science building and go down into this pristine shelter!, It was kept in perfect condition and stocked with food. It had 2 4 cylindere generators which were green color. I remember every bit of it. It breaks my heart to see it in ruins. And to see the sceince building like this is heart breaking, We learned so much from going there,,,,,,, You now have a new follower on you're chanel. Take care and again ty!

[@almareginainfante5233]

i get it is a big expense for the elevators and stuff but the government doesnt know the historical gem this offers!! to make a civil defense museum out of this place replicating how it used to look would be worth even a travel to see!!

[@firefighter3134]

would be so cool if someone could get a grant and restore it to exactly the way it looked when it was open

[@vanamonde2]

Yeah it would be great if that could happen but one problem with that is the building is vacant and no longer used. The other bigger problem (I talked to the fair park people about this the first time I went through the place) is that making it publicly accessible would be a huge expense. It would have to be made handicapped accessible which would involve installing an elevator etc.

[@murrellmasengill1970]

I could live there once I got all the mold out and cleaned and painted the place. It would be a cool pad.

[@vanamonde2]

Yeah that's the same door. The guy with the museum tried to open it while we were there but the pump tripped a the breaker. We couldn't get the breaker to reset so we couldn't do anything with the door.

[@asplinduh]

Oh man, im so glad you made this video. I really dig the Dallas EOC (and im also a fan of your website) and was wondering, do the people at the museum still allow people to go down there and tour the shelter?

[@southwestAZ]

that's good for when you have tornadoes in Texas

[@carl23401]

If I'm not mistaken, that used to be the Science Museum - I remember that blast door at :32 from when I was a kid.

[@vanamonde2]

You sir are not mistaken! That's when I first saw it. On a visit to the museum I went down the stairs and saw the full outfitted operations center. It was open to the public. That must have been about 1971 or so. I think I was about 8 at the time. I think it was the other entrance at 8:32 that I went in way back then.

[@nikkasnevertip2496]

if you people were smart down there you would privatize that facility, clean it up, restock it, and be ready for when the SHTF.

[@southtexasprepper1837]

Considering its age, this Emergency Operations Center (E.O.C.) is in fairly surprising good condition. Despite it have been abandoned.

[@NicksGarageDoorService]

Nice! Places like that still give me the creeps, tho. Dunno why. Anyway, was the blast door that went outside the same door you have a video of closing?

[@Texasmilitarydepartmentvid9654]

Is the Civil Defense now FEMA- Federal Emergency Management Agency?

[@gtoeasy64]

Very interesting, thank you.

[@reddeath1888]

Looks like the building that sits on top of this blast shelter is getting remodeled/gutted. Do you know if this is going to effect that blast shelter in any way?

[@vanamonde2]

I don't know what's going on down there. I haven't been by there since I made this video over 4 years ago. I guess I need to check into it.

[@murrellmasengill1970]

How does one get on the list for exclusive viewings of Fair Park? I would absolutely love to see this in person.

[@vanamonde2]

I don't know about any list. You would have to find out and contact whoever runs things down there to ask about access. I have no idea of the condition of the place now. It might have a foot of water in it. Its flooded before.

[@seanjuth]

Did you ever find the AR timer and telephone relay that activated the sirens?

[@7071t6]

Didn't they have collins comms based down their as well / also they supplied the defence department and even air force one comms ?

[@vanamonde2]

All I ever saw down there were old Motorola radios and those had been there since the 60s. An old newspaper pic from back then showed the same radios.

[@ColdWarCanada]

Very cool, thanks for upload!

[@JoeSmith-lq3st]

where is this located?

[@vanamonde2]

At the old Science Museum / Science Place 2 building at Fair Park in Dallas Tx.

[@vertoisful]

That’s awesome

[@jeffberry6188]

Where is that at in Dallas

[@painful-Jay]

Very cool!

[@SwampDonkey64]

If I was told that this is where I will be staying for the rest of my life, this would be the fourteenth reason why.

[@ceejay4538]

RIP To The Civil Defense

[@YoloSwagNinja]

2:41. A pair of cardboard file boxes are sitting on top of a cabinet. Wonder what was in them.

[@greyhound531]

Some day i think we are going to regret letting these shelters go to hell.. i think we should have kept all the cd shelters and supplies up to date..

[@chrispaul1141]

Yeah, like now

[@razvandobos9759]

Wish the blast door was lava-proof, bullet-proof, and acid-proof.

[@xmachannel7147]

Is it still in use just incase?

[@TechMonsterDude]

XMA channel unfortunately no, although I’m curious if it could be a “last resort” shelter (kinda like sewers) if a civilian were walking by it when a warning is issued, it has a blast door. The only problem is that if they had to stay in the shelter, it would not have anything stocked.

[@razvandobos9759]

I would so upgrade that shelter! In the radio room, it obviously needs computers and newer radios, plus some hologram projectors and a TV on the wall for weather and fallout information and news, the dorms need new beds and TV's and Xbox and Playstations and their own bathrooms for the occupants, the blast doors will need to be able to withstand a 50 megaton blast from just 5 MILES away (no joke), the shelter will need washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, garbage disposal, robots for firefighting and security and maintenance and radiation monitoring, EMP Shield, plus other things.

[@freerbt4839]

Cool.

[@JoeSmith-lq3st]

ok cool

[@NBrown-kh8lp]

Welp it’s looking like they might want to open that bad boy back up given the current state of the world!🥴

[@larrymonroe6718]

Gone are the days when surviving a nuclear attack was a possibility. In this day and age, that would be a mass grave instead of an emergency operations center.

[@vanamonde2]

It was never expected when these shelters were built that they would ever survive nearby blast effects.

[@mikenauer2403]

yeah when the big one comes the building falls on entance and your in your own tomb

[@vanamonde2]

No. I guess you missed the escape hatch in the room with the air intake system and the exterior blast door shown at the end of the video?

[@7iLeto]

Too much ant too fast camera moving left to right up and down not ggod

[@vanamonde2]

I had just a few minutes to do the whole video before about 40 people came down there after me so whatever, expert.

[@videosuperhighway7655]

The chances of nuclear war is very remote. Natural disasters are the most likely events to occur.

[@vanamonde2]

Things were much different back with this place was built over 50 years ago...

[@jonathantan2469]

Heck, even in the mid-80s the threat of nuclear attack was very real. That's why movies like 'The Day After' spooked lots of people...