‘We are zombie proof’: Inside the compound of rich Doomsday preppers

Debbie Schipp, news.com.au

July 9, 2017 12:40pm

IN terms of street appeal, there’s not much to recommend.

But inside, and underneath — 15-storeys into the ground to be exact — it’s a completely different world.
They’re the underground, zombie-proof compounds built for the ultra-paranoid and super rich Doomsday preppers.
And they’re ready for an “Apocalypse soon’, 60 Minutes’ Peter Stefanovic reveals in an interview to air on Channel 9 on Sunday night.
It’s a world of 12 luxury apartments, “nuclear hardened”, says Survival Condo’s Larry Hall, for which Doomsday preppers can shell out up to $4 million.

The Survival Condo has 12 luxury apartments. Source: Survival Condo Project

Zombies aren’t welcome. Kids are. Source Survival Condo Project

Post-apocalyptic living, surrounded by home comforts. Source: Survival Condo Project

That’s the price of post-apocalyptic living, which includes a hospital, a cinema, a school and a rock climbing area.
It’s a concrete playground — complete with waterside and waterfall, deep underground in Kansas, USA.

The cinema. Picture: Channel 9

They’ll grow their own hydroponic food, but just to remind you this living-off-the grid thing is serious business, there’s also a shooting range and a full stock of weapons and ammunition, should its inhabitants need to defend themselves post-apocalypse.
Hopefully, it won’t come to that.
“We’re zombie proof,” Survival Condo Project’s Larry Hall assures Stefanovic.
Hall is an engineer who in 2008 bought a ‘retired’ missile silo capable of surviving a nuclear war and spent US $20 million converting it to converted it into luxury accommodation for those who don’t have to worry about cash, but do worry about the end of the world.

Maximum security. The compound from the air. Picture: Channel 9

“We’ve got a kids waterside and waterfall in here so it’s a little piece of the tropics right here in Central Kansas,” he says.
Along with the waterside and medical centre, he also added a dog park, pool, gym, lounge, The Sun reported earlier this year.
If Doomsday dawns, the plan is for swat-style trucks to pick up owners from up to 600 kilometres away, get them in, and lock the doors.

Zero street appeal, but zombie-proof: The security entrance to the luxe Doomsday bunker. Picture: Channel 9

“What we’re looking at is there’s an increasing array of threats like tornadoes and hurricanes and solar flares and pandemics and terrorism and food shortages,” Hall says.
“There are so many things that happen every day all around the world and people are just like hoping it doesn’t happen to them. But what if it does?”
The condo is in a secret location in Kansas, but its tenants live in states across America.
They have all developed plans to travel to Kansas quickly in the case of a major catastrophe.
One resident said of their bunker: “The same quality of condo in New York would have cost me the same, if not more, per square foot and you get peace of mind with this.”
A statement from Survival Condo reads: “In the event of a major disaster, economic collapse or whatever the future may hold, there is one common concern that Larry and his tenants share.
“And that is the ability to protect themselves and their families when the government is no longer able to do so.”
60 Minutes airs at 8.45pm Sunday on Channel 9