
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 6, 1995                   TAG: 9510060085
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Pressx|
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, W.VA.                                LENGTH: Short

PENTAGON GIVES BACK POSH DIGS

The Defense Department has relinquished control of a once-secret underground bunker built during the Cold War to house members of Congress and their families during a nuclear attack.

The structure is deep beneath the West Virginia Wing of The Greenbrier, a posh mountain resort in White Sulphur Springs.

The government gave up its lease July 31, according to a letter from Assistant Secretary of Defense Emmett Paige Jr. that was released by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. Paige said the action wasn't announced until now at the request of the resort's owner, CSX Corp. of Jacksonville, Fla.

Greenbrier President Ted Kleisner said he'll decide by the end of the year when to allow the public to see the bunker.

``Because the corporation has had limited access to the facility during its operation, it feels compelled to conduct safety, engineering and habitability surveys before opening it to public access,'' Paige said.

The bunker was completed in 1956, at a cost of $14 million.

Kleisner wouldn't reveal its size but said it has ``spartan living'' quarters for members of Congress, their staffs and families. He said he didn't know what the bunker might eventually be used for.

by CNB