His thoughts on his find

“I was really hoping it was going to be a little microcosm… a time capsule full of civil-defense boxes, radiation detectors, and cots and stuff like that,” John shared during an interview. Unfortunately, the bomb shelter did not even have furniture in it.

John also shared that he had been reading a lot about the Cold War. He believes that the Cuban Missile Crisis was probably the major cause for residents in Tucson to build bomb shelters in their backyards during the 1960s.

Advice for Tucson residents

For Tucson residents who are curious whether they also have a bomb shelter in the backyard, John suggests looking up records of the City of Tucson or Pima County for information. The information is most likely to be included in the building permits.

John also gives advice for everyone not to dive in too quickly once they find a bomb shelter in the yard. “Jumping into holes in the ground is generally not a good idea,” John continued to explain that toxic air in a tunnel or a cave-in can easily incapacitate anyone.

Asking for financial help

John has all the intentions of restoring the bomb shelter. But he did not have that kind of money. He set up a GoFundMe shape to help restore his bomb shelter from the 1960s. He planned to rebuild the entryway and work on the inside as well.

One of John’s major priorities was to replace the staircase so that people can enter it safely. With the funds that he was able to collect, John was just able to do that and now he and the team doing the renovations can safely go in and out.