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Decommissioned Atlas F missile silo complex for sale
- whalesalad 5y agoI’d be so terrified to explore the full extent of that labyrinth even if I owned it fair and square. I watched too many horror movies as a child.
- imgabe 5y agoInteresting, Abilene is also Eisenhower’s hometown and the site of his Presidential library and museum. Probably not a coincidence.
- Aeolun 5y agoThat’s going to need some renovation. Also, I’m certain I’ve seen this for sale before, though I think the price has increased.
- 14 5y agoWould love to buy a property like this and convert it to a giant scuba diving facility.
- R0b0t1 5y agoWish I had the money, datacenter would be easy.
- CSSer 5y agoWouldn’t the water be a problem?
- throwaway984393 5y agoNot if you submerge all the servers in sealed vats of oil
- bowmessage 5y agoEasy?! Cooling, water intrusion, and access to sufficient bandwidth all seem like nightmares.
- R0b0t1 5y agoIt's been done. First offering is usually cold storage.
- duskwuff 5y agoIt's a small underground facility in the middle of nowhere in Kansas -- even assuming that you could get adequate power service and bandwidth to the property (which is unlikely), you're still trying to run a bunch of servers out of a tiny, damp, hot hole in the ground. Not ideal.
- walrus01 5y agoEvery time I see people proposing to turn a former missile silo into a datacenter, I'd like to ask them to first do the budget on running a geographically diverse ring of singlemode fiber to the nearest mid size city... Most of them are located in areas with little to no real telecommunications infrastructure.
- Rebelgecko 5y agoHave you been to the one in Texas?
- russh 5y agoI’ve done a couple of deep dives in a flooded silo for my Master Diver certification class. It was a very cool experience with crystal clear water as long as no one disturbed the sediment.
- giantg2 5y agoThese go up for sale fairly regularly.
- WaxProlix 5y agoWhere would one keep an eye out for such things? I like the idea but don't want one in Kansas.
- DuskStar 5y agoUnfortunately, people tend to build nuke magnets in places that they are fine with nukes landing. Kansas, South Dakota, Idaho...
- duxup 5y agoNorth Dakota too.
- rkagerer 5y agoI wonder if your property's coordinates would remain in any old but still-commissioned targetting databases of adversarial nations. Like living under a big red X.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y agoWell, there is a good argument to be made for being in the center of the attack as preferable to the alternative.
- kingkawn 5y agoMy grandfather was in the US army and participated in nuclear weapons testing throughout his later career. He said if war broke out with the Soviets that everyone should go sit on the roof and wait for the mushroom cloud to be sure not to survive.
- 5y ago
- arcticbull 5y agoWhat kind of maintenance do you think one would need to do on a regular basis?
- bener 5y agoSo many water tightness issues appear to be already present. That thing is awesome, but it's a nightmare.
- Aeolun 5y agoAll depends on what you would consider ‘livable’ conditions. Doesn’t look like it has had maintenance for a while now, but I’m sure you can move in tomorrow.
- dclusin 5y agoAlso ventilation. Underground spaces can accumulate toxic levels of methane/co2/etc that will incapacitate you before you realize whats happening.
- JKCalhoun 5y agoAdd Radon gas in much of the soil in the midwest.
- fnord77 5y agoa tanker truck of Rustoleum and industrial sump pumps seriously, though I expect the rebar to be compromised by moisture intrusion
- duxup 5y agoLots of water pooling and etc. i wonder how much work it would take to fix it up. I had a friend growing up who had a missile silo on the edge of their property. Folks in the area never talked about them but everyone knew where they were. We would go look at it once in a while. Really eerie that out in this peaceful prairie was a horrific weapon just sleeping and waiting. Ready to go at all times. Pointed at folks on the other side of the planet nobody in the prairie knew or would likely ever meet. After the Cold War they were decommissioning them. While driving out there I was waved down my an APC and some soldiers. I pulled over, they asked me to wait with them. A couple convoys of more soldiers drove by, trucks, then a big convoy with a big white truck. I asked “Was that the real thing?” The soldier said “They don’t bring us ALL out here unless it is.” They thanked me for waiting and told me I could go after one more group when by.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y agoThese guys [1] did a series of videos on a similar one. They answer a lot of questions about what it takes, but the upshot is... probably not worth the trouble for 99% of folks. [1] https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-KKIb8rvtMQnKZOfxShrcAH5_wE82WtA https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-KKIb8rvtMQnKZOfxShrcAH5...
- Aloha 5y agoThe one featured in Zillow ad wouldn't require this much work. It's basically dry, though god only knows what the bottom of the silo itself looks like.
- rkagerer 5y agoStar Trek First Contact has a neat bonus segment about the missile silo they used for filming.
- binarynate 5y ago"This facility has lots of potential in whatever way you choose to go. A home, apartments or a Bed and Breakfast are just some ideas." I laughed out loud at the bread and breakfast idea after seeing the photos.
- duxup 5y agoLots of charm, water, rust…
- CSSer 5y agoAll our patrons leave glowing reviews!
- function_seven 5y agoHa. "Three thumbs up!"
- iamstupidsimple 5y agoTo be fair, I'll bet there's quite a lot of people who'd stay there as one of those AirBnB experiences.
- ocdtrekkie 5y agoThere's a whole market of doomsday preppers who would absolutely buy in at whatever price you set it. Luxury condos in old silos are a thing. And the cost of excavating, building, and reinforcing the structure is far more than the cost to refurbish the inside of it.
- sparrish 5y agoLarpers would pay big bucks to run around a place like this shooting paintballs or airsoft at each other. Set it up so the above ground barracks has some nice PC/Consoles to play with in the evenings, some hot pockets and Mt. Dew for breakfast and let them larp all day with their buddies for $300/person/day.
- 5y ago
- bowmessage 5y agoCompare with this "Luxury Titan II Nuclear Missile Complex" Airbnb to see its full potential :) https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/45816677 https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/45816677
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y agoThat's these guys: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-KKIb8rvtMQnKZOfxShrcAH5_wE82WtA https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-KKIb8rvtMQnKZOfxShrcAH5...
- mike503 5y agoPerfect place to rent when shit hits the fan!
- senectus1 5y agowow.. its almost exactly dead set in the center of the US... Looks like the sort of place a crypto-bro would blow a few million on.
- mwattsun 5y agoIn an earlier thread about free to low cost property, it was mentioned that Kansas has high property taxes, so that might bite you on this silo. Would you take free land in rural America? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30138545 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30138545
- mikestew 5y ago$13K/year for 11 acres in the middle of Nowhere, KS does seem a bit high, attached missile silo or not.
- teeray 5y agoI kinda hope that bike shop is incorporated into the silo just like that farmhouse in Wargames [0] [0] https://youtu.be/8-T_uhQ0iE4 https://youtu.be/8-T_uhQ0iE4
- jedberg 5y agoThat reminds me of the contest on Jeopardy recently whose story was about how he toured a missile silo once and realized that his wingspan was so long that he could actually turn both keys at once. He said the tour guide didn't seem to care.
- synaesthesisx 5y agoIn the early 2000s, there was a massive DEA bust involving a decomissioned missile silo turned into an LSD lab (which was apparently responsible for manufacturing 90% of the LSD on the market at the time). Other levels of the facility were turned into a massive party/tripping space - it's a fascinating story. The man responsible (William Pickard) served quite some time in federal prison but was finally released sometime last year. I'm sure there's no shortage of creative uses for a property like this. https://historydaily.org/skinner-pickard-1990s-lsd-lab-built-inside-underground-missile-silo https://historydaily.org/skinner-pickard-1990s-lsd-lab-built... https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/2-Bay-Area-Men-Busted-in-Big-LSD-Lab-Raid-Pair-3237712.php https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/2-Bay-Area-Men-Busted...
- MaxLeiter 5y agoHamilton's Pharmacopeia (a docuseries featuring a pharmacologist) has an episode where Hamilton visits and interviews a women who was involved there. 12 minute clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qliVpGEk0&vl=en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qliVpGEk0&vl=en
- mwattsun 5y agoI saw a really good video documentary about this but forgot how to find it. The Wikipedia is fascinating enough in itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard Edit: My mistake, it was about another duo who also made LSD. I'm pretty sure the silo is mentioned in passing. The Sunshine Makers Official Trailer 1 (2017) - Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvElED0-O0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvElED0-O0
- greggsy 5y agoIIRC, there was a murder, torture and kidnapping involved as well…
- iancmceachern 5y agoI think this was also touched on in the show Hamiltons Pharmacopeia
- 5y ago
- mythrwy 5y agoThere's one of these in New Mexico converted into an airbnb. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/46711243 https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/46711243
- spcebar 5y agoThis looks like the 'before' photo for a Bond villain's lair before they move in. It's fascinating that this is for sale at all.
- hanniabu 5y agoHow would you deal with radon in something this size
- projectileboy 5y agoMy guess is it wouldn’t be bad - the concrete is probably a lot thicker than your average basement slab.
- l30n4da5 5y agonot convinced. radon levels in Kansas are pretty damn high.
- zo1 5y agoFor those of us that aren't in the loop, care to explain? Why would radon be a problem here?
- BizarroLand 5y agoRadon is produced naturally underground in areas near uranium deposits. Most of the time they are in such small amounts that they can be ignored, but Kansas has a lot of Radon, (https://kansasradonprogram.org/county-map https://kansasradonprogram.org/county-map). Having such a deep set building would allow more of it to seep in and settle, and it is doubtful that there is any form of radon mitigation system built into the building. You might get lucky, the 4 ft of concrete might make a nigh impenetrable barrier, but the only way to know would be to test it.
- symlinkk 5y agoJust throw some luxury vinyl planks and kitchen backsplash in there and it’ll go for $100k over list, all inspections waived.
- rootusrootus 5y agoIt may only have been up on Zillow this time for 4 days, but the streetview shows a real estate sign, so this isn't the first time they've attempted to sell, or it's a resale. IMO it's priced about $350K too high.
- mikestew 5y agoIt was listed last March for $420K, and the price was dropped in December. So, going on at least a year that it's been for sale.
- ab_testing 5y agoLooking at the price history, it looks like they have been trying to sell it for almost 2 years now.
- sitkack 5y agoSo much asbestos!
- kevinpet 5y ago"We estimate this home will sell faster than 92 % nearby." Honestly, this place is going to need a lot of shiplap.
- nullc 5y agoBetter the titan ii sites, since they don't appear to have blown up the silo itself.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- warbaker 5y agoGotta watch out for deep crows [1], of course. [1] https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/10/10/ https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/10/10/
- zxcvbn4038 5y agoI’ve long dreamed of having one of these for a house! However I think that in reality the house would own me. Most of these missile silos were insulated with asbestos - you can work around that but I think that is well beyond a typical DIY project. Ground water penetration would also be an ongoing concern, you have to be vigilant and deferred maintenance would catch up to you quickly. Any maintenance issues that can’t be resolved internally and require digging down from above would be costly. Typical home warranty probably won’t cover anything. But for a few years it would be really sweet just the same! Just expect it to be a depreciating asset going in.
- jonathankoren 5y agoYeah, living in a nuclear silo is one of those things that sound a lot cooler than it really would be.
- daverol 5y ago"We estimate this home will sell faster than 94 % nearby." I wonder about the other 6%...
- lovemenot 5y agoThough technically listed in Kansas, those properties are actually located in the Emerald City
- jve 5y agoHeh, underground entrance looks EXACTLY like our entrance within our smaller data center premises here in Riga, a former soviet nuclear shelter. In our case, there is exact same thing on the opposite side. It is designed that way because it lets explosive blast escape the the other doors... Here you can see, that "brother entrance" is on the other side. http://tour.deac.eu/Grizinkalns.html http://tour.deac.eu/Grizinkalns.html Except, we currently don't maintain it to a level that is required to withstand nuclear war, so sorry if you ever wanted those guarantees...
- rambambram 5y agoStill, the grass is greener on your side. ;)
- erikbye 5y agoCheck out Command & Control, documentary on the Damascus Titan explosion. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_explosion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_...
- pleb_nz 5y agoI would imagine it would be an asbestos nightmare
- krasin 5y agoI've taken a non-educated look and you're correct that asbestos is a thing there ([1]). I also found this page that lists additional hazards around Atlas silos ([2]). In short: - Soil contamination from petroleum chemicals and/or from polychlorinated biphenyls - Groundwater contamination from trichloroethylene - "no evidence of radioactive contamination" Both chemicals (polychlorinated biphenyls and trichloroethylene) are common pollutants in the SF Bay Area, so for many Hacker News readers the silo will feel like home. 1. https://www.mesothelioma.com/states/north-dakota/ https://www.mesothelioma.com/states/north-dakota/ 2. https://cdphe.colorado.gov/atlas-missile-sites https://cdphe.colorado.gov/atlas-missile-sites
- Animats 5y agoThere are much better underground bunkers for sale. AT&T had chains of underground bunkers they operated for DoD. Many of those are for sale. Here's one.[1] These are much more useful. No silo, mostly big high-ceiling areas sized for telephone switches. 3-phase power. Onsite well. These were only shut down a decade or two ago, so they're often in good shape. They're all far from cities, because the whole point was to have backup network nodes that were unlikely to be attacked. [1] https://homeslandcountrypropertyforsale.com/sustainable-properties/properties/underground-facility-22225-state-hwy-m-paris-mo-65275/ https://homeslandcountrypropertyforsale.com/sustainable-prop...
- prox 5y agoThat is actually surprisingly cheap!
- yread 5y ago> 0.75 Bathrooms How does that work?
- t-writescode 5y agoshower
- Flankk 5y agoA full bathroom includes four components: bathtub, shower, sink, toilet. A half bathroom is just a sink and toilet. A 3/4 bath is a bathroom without a bathtub. It's very common in shitty apartments.
- parkingrift 5y agoHow common is this? I’ve never seen a bathroom with a stand up shower listed as 0.75 bathrooms. Were they all supposed to have been listed that way, or is it regional?
- ghaff 5y agoI've never seen that either. And it's very common. Hardly just "shitty apartments." In fact, when I had my bathroom remodeled a few years back, I changed it from having a bathtub/shower to just a shower.
- taylorius 5y agoSome ultra-secure crypto storage type outfit might like it.
- bhhaskin 5y agoIf you are ever in Tuscon go check out the TitanII missile museum. It is something else!
- pschastain 5y agoIf I had a gun for every ace that I have draw, I could arm a town the size of Abilene...
- throwthere 5y ago* missile not included
- chasd00 5y agoReminds me of the documentary Operation Odessa about the characters brokering the deal between a drug cartel and Russia for a submarine to smuggle drugs. “Do you want the missiles too?”
- DrBoring 5y agoIf I ever get super stupid money rich, I'm gonna buy a decommissioned lighthouse and put it on top of a decommissioned missile silo.
- tata71 5y agoBuild & paint, achievable today! And then you just tell (or hint) to people that you're rich/eccentric. Same result?
- DrBoring 5y agoI'm not exactly sure what result I aim to achieve. Surely not to advertise that I'm rich. It seems to me that wealth would attract metaphorical flies. Maybe it's just the fun of the thought of placing two similarly shaped cylindrical structures, who both have outlived their utility, one atop the other. An artistic expression. Another similarity that both structures share is their typical placement is somewhere remote.
- windexh8er 5y agoAtlas silos coming up for sale isn't uncommon. I spent an inordinate of time in my early 20s researching those that were for sale at the time because it sounded like something unique and fun at the time to take on. I never did, but looking at some of the websites that are still online is still good fun [0], [1], [2]. Plenty of them have been restored and there are other classes or facilities as well. An Atlas E as an example [3]. [0] http://silohome.com/atlas_f_for_sale_southwest_.htm http://silohome.com/atlas_f_for_sale_southwest_.htm [1] http://www.siloworld.net/SITES%20FOR%20SALE/SitesForSale.htm http://www.siloworld.net/SITES%20FOR%20SALE/SitesForSale.htm [2] http://atlasmissilesilo.com/ http://atlasmissilesilo.com/ [3] http://www.missilesitehome.com/MissileSiteHome.html http://www.missilesitehome.com/MissileSiteHome.html
- mdrzn 5y ago>>Facts and features >>0 bedrooms >>1 bathroom Hey, seems nice enough!
- LinuxBender 5y agoGiven the water intrusion it is a full rebuild and a lot of renovation ... but on the plus side if you wanted a bunker $380k for 11 acres plus all the concrete and digging already done might be a good deal. I would get it inspected for cracks. Cracks will have to be fixed correctly or mold will be a serious health problem. It looks to be in better shape than some remote military sites I worked at given the age. Assume 100% of heating and electrical needs to be replaced. Flush every toilet and have the septic inspected. I wont disgust anyone out with those stories. Most importantly it would also need to be inspected for chemical contamination both in the facility and in the soil. Many of the sites I worked at had to be entirely destroyed and all the soil chemically treated costing millions in treatment alone with drilling and pump trucks. Ask to see the paperwork from the military from when this property was transitioned.
- buttocks 5y agoIt would cost $50k just to paint. Every 5 years.
- nimbius 5y agoI wish the trend of selling these things would stop. They should be designated superfund sites. no one should buy them. - these are 50s era missile silos with limited regulation. youll need full asbestos and lead abatement. some fixtures or objects may not be capable of any abatement at all. - the fire suppression system likely isnt pendant/water based like a normal home. youre going to need to maintain dry standpipe/halon systems or rip them out and replace them. Halon is toxic and depletes the ozone layer. - there will be some parts of your home you absolutely will not inhabit and may require a site survey. Expect leftover chromium based chemicals, leaded fuels and lead contaminated chemicals like cosmoline, industrial adhesives and cleaners, and even hydrazine itself. - youll may need a specialty electrician and plumber every time something goes wrong. HVAC in a silo is a million dollar system designed to cope with thermonuclear war. you will definitely need to replace some or all of it. - water in silos is common and requires a full time sump system. whatever standing water you encounter will almost certainly be contaminated.
- guerrilla 5y agoYou wish they would stop being sold because they're money pits?
- riffic 5y agoI think the sentiment here is that the government needs to put money toward cleaning up its mess before selling these off to some unsuspecting rube.
- ChrisLomont 5y ago>They should be designated superfund sites Why should they be superfund sites when they don't meet the requirements?
- shrubble 5y agoRe asbestos: as long as it is encapsulated or covered over it shouldn't be an issue as a practical matter. I would worry about air quality, water intrusion, etc.
- dylan604 5y agoImage 43 seems to imply the missle comes with it. Sounds like a sweet deal for <$400k. Wonder why they felt the need to include that image