It was a big day on Friday for the Tunnels of Moose Jaw as they held a grand opening of their newest attraction “Bunker 24”.  

Members of the media, Lieutenant Governor, Russ Mirasty, Tourism Saskatchewan CEO, Johnathon Potts, as well as honoured guests of 15 Wing Moose Jaw got a first-hand tour of the new tunnel.  

Bunker 24 takes people back in time to show them what life was like in the 1950’s, and how Canada grew coming out of the Great Depression and World War II, before the Cold War came into play. They take you back to 1958 in their 1950’s Cold War bunker.  

Kelly Carty, Business Development Manager for the Tunnels of Moose Jaw says the reaction to Bunker 24 has been great.  

“We’re very happy that our partners in the military approved of what we’ve done, and we got our homework right and we’re presenting a true story of what the Canadian Military was like in the 1950s and get people to have a glimpse of what life was like in the 1950s,” says Carty.  

Carty adds that it took some time to gather the items for the tour for the historic accuracy, as some things were borrowed from 15 Wing Moose Jaw, with others being precured from various avenues.  

“We’re keeping them alive for them, if they’re stuck in a room somewhere, nobody sees them, and no one understands them. It brings the history to life.” 

15 Wing Moose Jaw, local historians, and a whole lot of research went into making sure the historical accuracy was correct in the tour. 

Moose Jaw’s strong ties with the military were the inspiration behind creating Bunker 24, and laid the foundation for the story throughout the tour.  

“This has always been a military town. We’re the home of the Snowbirds, we had the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP)."

The Tunnels of Moose Jaw made quick work of building and renovating the 12,000 square foot space of Bunker 24. 

“It was a couple of years to get the construction done, to get the scripts written, to get all the set pieces collected and gathered as they came from all over. I would say two years from conception to realization.” 

Like most of the tourism industry COVID-19 hindered their business, but it also gave them some time to add to or restructure one of their existing tours.  

“We just reopened Passage to Forture this week, the tour space is great. We are telling it from the point of view of the Chinese immigrants now. We wanted to empower the story of the Chinese.” 

Carty did wanted to remind those wishing to embark on one of three tunnels that tickets can be purchased on their website, by calling 306-693-5261, or at their ticket office.