A Bomb Shelter Becomes a Science Building

Colleges have more than their share of Cold War-era buildings — heavy concrete structures built as sturdy as fallout shelters. Few of them have actually been specially designed to withstand a nuclear attack.

However, Merced College’s new science building is actually a renovated relic from those precarious years. According to an article in the Merced Sun-Star, the 1962 building is close to an Air Force base and was designed to shelter residents and students in the event of a Soviet strike.

After a $17-million renovation, the 28,000-square-foot building is going to contain some state-of-the-art classrooms and labs, including a cadaver lab. If the building was destined to contain corpses, this is certainly a happier outcome than what might have been.