WORK to transform a Cold War bunker into York's newest museum will start next month.
The shelter, at the back of Shelley House, in Acomb Road, was built in the 1960s to withstand a nuclear explosion and act as a centre for monitoring conditions after an attack.
Owner English Heritage plans to open up the site for up to 20 days a year for pre-booked groups on educational visits.
The bunker was built to house 40 people and is one of the best existing examples of its type in the United Kingdom.
A spokeswoman for English Heritage said: "We start the development work in September and hopefully it won't be too long before we open to visitors."
The shelter, which was built in the 1960s, is a designated monument.
It was intended to act as a control centre, with observers based in smaller bunkers around the North Yorkshire area meant to report back to the Acomb shelter in the aftermath of a nuclear attack, if the Cold War had suddenly turned "hot".
Thankfully the shelter never had to be put to that use, and it passed into the hands of English Heritage following the end of the confrontation between the West and the old Communist Bloc.
Updated: 11:10 Tuesday, August 05, 2003
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