If the world came to an end, America’s richest people might survive it. Because the top one percent of Americans have access to unending riches, one entrepreneur has transformed an old Cold War missile silo in the middle of Kansas – the most likely place for such a weapon – into a luxury condo that can give shelter to seventy-five rich people in the event of an apparent apocalypse.
When Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, some critics worried that it would be dangerous for him to have access to America’s nuclear code. Although Trump assured people that he had the “very best temperament,” current events show otherwise and have given entrepreneur Larry Hall an entirely new set of clientele who are interested in gaining access to an apocalypse bunker in the event of the worst-case scenario.
Hall bought the aging missile silo in 2008 and spent a fortune – estimated at $20 million – to turn it into a luxury condo where seventy-five people could live. The bunker descends under the ground and has fifteen stories. There is a high-speed elevator in the property, which makes it very easy for the rich residents to access the library, classroom, general store, cinema, swimming pool, rock climbing wall, and an aquaponics area to grow vegetables, and fish.
Hall has made a killing from the “self-made millionaires” who want safety and security in a world where that is hard to come by.
Hall said: “All of our people are self-made millionaires. They’re very successful: doctors, engineers, lawyers, international business people… almost all of them have children. And they’re concerned about the ‘what if’ scenario.”
Besides a nuclear Armageddon, Hall’s clients are also afraid of disasters like superstorms, tsunamis, and earthquakes. The current economic collapse during the coronavirus pandemic also strikes fear in Hall’s group of self-made millionaires, who want to feel safe in the event of any situation.
You can watch a video tour of the survival condo below. CNET sent a reporter down into the depths of the bunker to see what Hall’s rich clients are receiving for the expense they are shelling out.
Critics of the underground bunker did not shy away from explaining why they think it is a big scam and that Hall is getting away with fleecing these fearful people.
“What’s the point? By the time you get to Kansas, the bomb has already gone off.”
One person wrote, “’…for the super-rich.’ Yeah, because that always works out. Good luck even making it there alive, yuppies. Good riddance.”
“It’s beautiful, but after the bomb, where the power and water come from? I mean, if the windmill has blown away.”
“I just really hope there’s an exit somewhere you can’t just have one way in and one way out.”
“You need to live near here because the apocalypse doesn’t make appointments. You may not make it depending on where the nuke hits, so there goes that deposit. And if the nuke hits DIRECTLY on top of this bunker, I DOUBT it will be usable after that. But it’s cool…”
Some people feel that this bunker should be used now and not just when the world comes to an end.
“If I buy something like this, I’m living in it 24/7 whether there’s an apocalypse or not.”
What do you think about the Survival Condo in Kansas?