Freya Drohan
JFK's historic bunker in the Tom Nevers area of Nantucket may become a new museum.
A now-defunct navy base located in Nantucket could become a major tourist attraction on the tiny island off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
During Cold War tensions, the tiny base at Tom Nevers became an important element of John F. Kennedy's presidency.
Just after he was sworn into office, the base became essential for sheltering the president and his family from radioactive fallout in the event of nuclear war.
JFK was known to favor the island, spending all his summer weekends a this family's compound.
At the time, military leaders needed a place for him to safely run the country should the Soviet Union press the red button. In a 1961 speech, President Kennedy recommended that all Americans have access to a fallout shelter and not long after the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted.
According to the Nantucket Island Inquirer, the 1,900-square-foot could soon become a museum, staged with furnishings that would have been inside the building in its 1962 heyday.
The partially underground bunker is located a short helicopter ride away from where JFK's family compound was located.
The navy base, originally known as Nantucket Ordnance Site, was apparently used in the late 1960s as a locker room during football games against the Nantucket High School football team. It was eventually sealed and left to decay.