Diefenbunker Museum escape room promises interactive Cold War history lesson

Imagine this: You're on the final tour of the day at the DiefenbunkerMuseum when you and a group of friends duck into a room to hide because you want to spend the night.

You quickly realize the museum isn't a museum at all it's the headquarters of a spy organization that's planning an attackthat very night.

You've got to find the communications room, stop a launch sequence and transmit a red alert to the public before escaping.

It may sound like a pretty extreme way to teach people about the Cold War, but that's whatthe Diefenbunker Museum in the rural west Ottawa community ofCarpand an Ottawacompany are hoping to do.

Starting in March, the thirdfloor of the former federal government's nuclear attack safehousewill morph into what they're calling the world's largestescape roomwith the help of Escape Manor, a companythat designs scenariosin whichgroups of people have to find clues and solve puzzles to get out of locked spaces.

Teachable moment

What exactly does an escape roomhave to do with teaching lessons about the Cold War? More than you might think, according to the museum's executive director.

"I think the real purpose of the Diefenbunker is to teach young people the lessons of the Cold War; that's conflict resolution, non-violence, peace-building, diplomacy," saidHenrietteRiegel.

"And so what the escape room is asking people to do, it's an interesting and unique way [to do it], but it comes down to the core values of asking people to solve some pretty big problems by working together."

Billy Rogers, one of the owners of Escape Manor, said the collaboration with the 100,000 square foot museum was a dream come true.

"We always thought it would be neat to do something on a grandiose scale like this," he said.

"Just walking into those front doors, we knew right away that it was going to be an awesome opportunity to do somethingreally cool and really unique, not just for Ottawa but for escape rooms in general."

Diefenbunkerescape room spots are filling up but work isunderway to add more hours.

Thesessions take place starting March 10, after the museum closes on Thursday to Sunday nights, with four sessions per night.

Groups of 12-14 people are accepted.

TheDiefenbunkerwas built from 1959 to 1961 as a place for government and military leaders to go if Canada was under nuclear attack.

It was decommissioned in 1994 and reopened as a museum in 1997.