Did You Know Grand Rapids Has Fallout Shelters?

Last weekend, I was walking around downtown Marquette and was surprised to see a nuclear fallout shelter sign on the side of the post office. My girlfriend and I pointed at it, thought it was just a relic from the 70s, and moved along. But then we saw another one in Munising and realized it wasn't a one-off thing: fallout shelters are still everywhere around the state.

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Even though the threat of fallout isn't at the same level it was when President Kennedy created a Civil Defense unit to identify fallout-proof structures, the places designated as shelters are still exactly that. While most of us don't keep a mental note of where the nearest shelter is, many of them are still stocked with supplies.

READ MORE: Michigan's Most Likely Targets For A Nuclear Bomb

Thanks to Grand Rapids Civil Defense History, which preserves Cold War history around Grand Rapids and Kent County, fallout shelter locations are well documented. GRCDH has created an entire map marking every fallout shelter, former and current, and Chrysler Siren (the bomb alarm) from around Grand Rapids and Kent County.

Exterior signage here in Grand Rapids is on a few buildings, according to GRCDH. Pictured below is the one on the old Imperial Furniture Company building (now RT London); a sign doesn't mean there are supplies in the shelter.

Tommy McNeill, Townsquare Media

On the GRCDH website, you can view photos of the insides of the shelters, the supplies that are prepared, and instructions for survival. Hopefully, we won't need these any time soon (or ever).