CFS Carp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Canadian Forces Station Carp (also CFS Carp) is a former Canadian military facility located in the rural farming community of Carp, Ontario, approximately 30 km west of Ottawa.
In 1958, at the height of the Cold War and the infancy of the ICBM threat, Carp was selected as the site for one of the Emergency Government Headquarters (also known as Diefenbunkers) complexes being constructed across Canada. The Carp facility would be the largest of such facilities, and the only one in the immediate Ottawa area. Construction began in 1959 in an abandoned gravel pit outside Carp. The original site, some six miles west of Almonte (45 15'06.66" N x 76 19'31.05 W)was abandoned when ground water proved impossible to remove.
The underground 4-storey bunker was capable of withstanding a near-hit from a nuclear explosion. It had massive blast doors at the surface, as well as extensive air filters to prevent radiation infiltration. Underground storage was built for food, fuel, fresh water, and other supplies for the facility which was capable of supporting several hundred people for weeks. A vault was also constructed on the lowest level to hold the gold reserves of the Bank of Canada.
These facilities were administered by the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (later the Communications and Electronics Branch). A decentralized transmitter site was located further to the west where an antenna farm was built in Perth, Ontario (approx 45 16'00.70 N x 76 08'22.58 W).
On April 12, 2006, the City of Ottawa designated the entire site as a property of cultural heritage value under the Ontario Heritage Act. The site has been recognized as a heritage property by the federal government since 1994.
[edit] Diefenbunker Museum
CFS Carp was decommissioned in 1994 following the reduction in the ICBM threat (or more appropriately the obsolescence of bunkers in general). The local municipality took control of the facility and a group of local volunteers, recognizing the heritage and tourism value of the Carp Diefenbunker, undertook to open the facility as a cold war museum and conduct public tours. It was purchased by the Diefenbunker Development Group in 1998, and officially opened as a museum. The non-profit group changed their name to the Diefenbunker, Canada's Cold War Museum shortly thereafter. It is currently open year-round for public tours (guided only).
