London’s legendary underground tunnels to be transformed into a tourist attraction
Angus Murray, a former executive at Macquarie Group Ltd and a native of Australia, acquired a network of tunnels in the heart of London historically used by the spies who inspired James Bond, with the aim of transforming them into a tourist attraction as iconic as the London Eye.
The former air raid shelters, known as the Kingsway Telephone Exchange, were acquired by Murray in order to implement a four-year renovation strategy, estimated to cost around USD 269 million, according to the Business Mirror.
The tunnels, which lie 40 metres below the law offices that dominate London’s Holborn district, were built in 1941 and 1942 as shelters during the fierce bombing raids on the British capital in World War II.
London’s historic tunnels, soon to be a tourist attraction (The London Tunnels)
However, these tunnels were completed after the most damaging attacks had passed, so they were never used for that purpose, according to historians at BT, the UK’s former state-owned telecommunications monopoly.
In 1944, the tunnels were used by the Inter-Services Research Office, which was actually the code name for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a spy organisation sometimes referred to as ‘Churchill’s secret army’.
A tourist attraction
According to information compiled by Smithsonian Magazine, Murray’s goal is to transform these historic spaces into immersive, blockbuster-inspired experiences by lining the large cylindrical spaces with giant screens.
Representatives of the major Hollywood studios could join the project (London Tunnels).
To do this, it will seek alliances with major Hollywood studios such as Warner Bros. Discovery, creators of the Harry Potter saga, and Amazon.com Inc, the new owners of the James Bond rights, Business Mirror confirmed.
As part of the revitalisation plan, Murray intends to preserve certain aspects of the tunnels’ history, such as what he told Independen was the deepest bar in the UK, where underground workers used to frequent.
Murray estimates that the first phase of the project, to prepare the site for construction, will cost more than USD 50 million and will be completed by the end of 2024.
Subsequently, the tunnels will need to be retrofitted with modern conveniences and meet health and safety approvals, at an additional cost of $113 million.
The Kingsway Telephone Exchange will be preserved in the new project (The London Tunnels).
To complete the site’s public readiness by 2027, a final investment of USD 90 million will be needed, noted Business Mirror.
The tunnels have space to accommodate up to eight times the number of screens as the famous advertising display at London’s Piccadilly Circus intersection. However, Catherine Allen, founder of research and consultancy organisation Limina Immersive, warned in the same newspaper that the lack of natural light and wayfinding could be a problem.
But the most important drawback, according to Murray himself, is probably the UK planning system, with whose representatives in London he has already met and is holding meetings related to the project.
He says it is important to assess the benefits of a new attraction such as the one he is proposing, as it could attract more investment to a part of London which, although located between tourist attractions such as the British Museum and St Paul’s Cathedral, has few attractions of its own.