McKinley Elementary in 1970 Photo Contributed
Did you know that there is a fallout shelter under McKinley? A fallout shelter is a room that was used in case of a nuclear attack.
Jim Murphy, of the Arlington Historical Society, said that it was usually made of things like iron, brick, or cement. He added that they were in many public schools and buildings. They were used during the Cold War, which lasted from 1950 to around 1970.
“They were usually located under a building,” he said.
You might have to stay in the fallout shelter for more than two weeks. Some fallout shelters could be used for around a year and some could only be used for two weeks or so. Fallout shelters usually had food to last a month. The reason you would stay in a fallout shelter for around a two weeks is because the radiation of the nuclear bomb could kill you so if you went outside and got exposed to the radiation it might kill you.
Bob Smith, of the Office of Risk Management and Safety, Arlington Public Schools, said that there was a fallout shelter in McKinley but it was repurposed or torn down during remodeling.
The fallout shelter is located near the gym in a electrical room It used to run through the basement area of McKinley (around the gym). It went through the occupational therapy room OT/PT room and the electrical room. During the renovations in 1970 it was reused and renamed as a electrical room. In 1970 they added the gym so it is impossible for the fallout shelter to be the gym. Inside the electrical room there is a second room that has a few prints on the wall indicating that there were stairs coming down from the cafeteria into the fallout shelter. There is a sealed trapdoor that supposedly leads to a crawl space .