Front Entry Stairs and Blast Door EOC Tour Main Outside the EOC Front Entry Dormitory Communications Operations Room Radef/Operations Mayor's Office Men's Restroom Mechanical Room Air Filter System Kitchen Hallway Outside Entrance Back to Shelter Tours Main Back to Civil Defense Museum Main		Front Entry Blast Door and Stairway Click All Images To See Larger This is the Front Entry stairway and blast door. This entrance to the EOC is located in a vestibule adjacent to the front lobby of the building. There are three blast doors in all that were to seal the shelter. See the other two doors on the "Outside The EOC" and the "Outside Entrance" page. All three doors are actuated by large hydarulic cylinders. The door hinges are welded directly to the door frames which are imbedded in the floor concrete. An interesting thing to note is the shackles with bolts hanging from the edge of the door. These shackles were to be used to seal the door down tight. I am not a structural engineer but it sure looks to me like it could survive a "nearby" (a few miles away that is) nuclear explosion. The door into the EOC is to the right at the bottom of the stairs. Notice the steel support holding the door open. The above two photos were taken at two different visits to the shelter. The sign at the top of the stairs was still there just as I remembered it from my visit to the place when I was a kid. Click Images To See Larger December 23 1962 Dallas Times Herald Newspaper Photo This photo is from a December 1962 Dallas Times Herald article about the opening of the shelter. Mr Boise B. Smith is shown here standing on the entry stairs. The sign on the wall behind Mr. Smith above the door opening says "Blast Door Weighs 4 Tons, Hydraulic Lift Operated, From Inside The Shelter, Only." Steel Doors At Entrances To Shelter I thought it was worthwhile to note the steel doors at the front and rear entrances into the shelter. If I remember correctly they are about 1/4 inch thick steel plate with latching bars at the top and bottom. Maybe the purpose of these was to help shield against any fallout radiation that might have leaked into the entry stairwells. I don't know. There aren't any weather seals on these doors. There are also 2 additional wood (if I remember correctly) doors just inside these steel doors. Go to the Dormitory, Women's Restroom Back to EOC Main