Los Alamos sees tourism boost as 'Oppenheimer' fame grows

LOS ALAMOS - Christopher Nolan's $1-billion-grossing "Oppenheimer" hasn't just lined the pockets of Hollywood studio executives -- it has also brought an unexpected windfall to the secretive community of Los Alamos.

The movie, the clear frontrunner to win Best Picture at the Oscars on March 10, tells the story of the invention of the atomic bomb.

Much of the action takes place in Los Alamos, a town built around a top-secret lab that was created from scratch in New Mexico at the suggestion of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who had a lifelong passion for the surrounding mountains.

Since the film's release last July, tourists have been flocking to sites like the Oppenheimer House, and Fuller Lodge, where nuclear scientists held parties to celebrate their success in building the bomb.

Visitor numbers leapt by 68 percent last year, town officials say.

"We started seeing a huge influx" last spring, even before the film hit theaters, said Kathy Anderson, a tour guide for the local historical society, which had to triple the number of daily tours.

"If it does win Oscars, I think we're going to see a lot more interest."

But the success shrouds a complicated relationship that Los Alamos has with its past and with Oppenheimer, who is still widely referred to around town by his affectionate nickname "Oppie."

On the one hand, the tourist boom could help raise the $2-million needed to restore the century-old home where the Oppenheimers lived, which is in dire need of repairs.

On the other hand, there is no escaping the destruction caused by the nuclear bombs forged in this town -- where 15,000 scientists and staff still work at the same high-security lab.

Still, Nolan's decision to shoot many scenes in the very Los Alamos buildings where they occurred caused enormous excitement around town.