ROCHESTER, N.Y. – With recent tensions between the U.S. and Iran over Iran’s nuclear program, several viewers asked News10NBC if the Rochester area still has nuclear fallout shelters.

A viewer, John, asked: “Are there still any existing nuclear fallout shelters in New York State? They were very common and numerous during the Cold War. If by chance the answer is yes, are they still viable?”

For the answer, News10NBC’s Emily Putnam visited the Rochester Central Library and spoke with Emily Morry, a historical researcher with the Office of Rochester and Monroe County History.

“By 1974 there were still 584 public fallout shelters that Monroe County was responsible for,” Morry said. “The public shelters were pretty much done away with in the late 70s. The Office of Civil Defense was rebranded as the Office of Emergency Preparedness in 1978, and at that point that’s when the public fallout shelters were filled in or repurposed as storage.”

Public shelters were common at places like schools and hospitals during the Cold War era. You can still see their faded signs in some places, like the Salvation Army on Liberty Pole Way. But as far as Morry knows, no public shelters remain.

By 1969, there were about 250 home-built fallout shelters deemed suitable by the county, inspired by pamphlets and videos produced by the former Federal Civil Defense Administration.

Sixty-four years ago this summer, construction was underway on an above-ground model fallout shelter, adjacent to the Rundel Library at the corner of South Ave and Broad St. The model was meant to give Rochester families ideas for how to build their own home shelters.

The model shelter drew up to 750 visitors per day in 1961 when Cold War tensions were high. After that, “there were 40-50 fallout shelters being built a week in Monroe County,” according to Morry. “It might look a bit absurd or quaint or even comical in a very bizarre, absurd way, but we have to remember that at that time, as I mentioned this was really the height of the Cold War with the Bay of Pigs and the Berlin Wall going up, and there was a real sense that a nuclear attack was possible,” Morry said.

It was recommended that home fallout shelters have at least 10 square feet of space per person with enough supplies to last a couple of weeks. The cost to build a shelter at home started at about $150 in the 50’s and 60’s, which would be close to $2,000 today.

Lawmakers say there are currently no credible nuclear threats to the United States.

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