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For Sale: Deep, Spacious Roswell Property, Once Occupied by a Missile

nytimes.com

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Re: For Sale: Deep, Spacious Roswell Property, Once Occupied by a Missile

#11

Post by MCRed »

mattmanser wrote: post #8
MCRed wrote: post #3

In the last decade I spent a fair bit of time working on the idea of buying and refurbing Missile site. I researched Atlas, Titan and Nike sites and even joined a list of ex-air force missileers. One thing about those guys who spent years in them- they talked a lot about the hazardous chemicals, and when one of these sites would come onto the market often people who had worked there would talk about accidents that ha…

Great info! What were you planning to do?

I just wanted an underground home, and to have the tunnels renovated to be usable. Several miles of tunnel would make great hiking trail and all that. Would probably have just put up a barrier at the silos and set up lights so you could look down into them... too difficult and expensive to turn them into anything.

Re: For Sale: Deep, Spacious Roswell Property, Once Occupied by a Missile

#12

Post by MCRed »

soylentcola wrote: post #10
mattmanser wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great info! What were you planning to do?

I'm thinking ball pit.

Many times the silos get flooded. The equipment is pulled out when they are abandoned leaving a lot of half broken stuff (eg: they don't care about stairs but might care about the thing holding them up).

I know of one that was used as a cave diving environment, but seems really dangerous to me.

Re: For Sale: Deep, Spacious Roswell Property, Once Occupied by a Missile

#14

Post by vonmoltke »

MCRed wrote: post #3

In the last decade I spent a fair bit of time working on the idea of buying and refurbing Missile site. I researched Atlas, Titan and Nike sites and even joined a list of ex-air force missileers. One thing about those guys who spent years in them- they talked a lot about the hazardous chemicals, and when one of these sites would come onto the market often people who had worked there would talk about accidents that ha…

Just to be clear: Nike as a family of nuclear surface-to-air missile systems; the Atlas and Titan were families of ICBM. The Nike system had rail launchers like conventional SAMs designed in the 1950s through the 1970s, but were kept in armored bunkers until needed to keep them from being destroyed in a preliminary strike. The facilities for Nikes and ICBMs are very different, and Nike facilities are usually located near large population centers because they were only built at high-value targets.

Re: For Sale: Deep, Spacious Roswell Property, Once Occupied by a Missile

#15

Post by codingdave »

MCRed wrote: post #3

In the last decade I spent a fair bit of time working on the idea of buying and refurbing Missile site. I researched Atlas, Titan and Nike sites and even joined a list of ex-air force missileers. One thing about those guys who spent years in them- they talked a lot about the hazardous chemicals, and when one of these sites would come onto the market often people who had worked there would talk about accidents that ha…

I've been into one of the Titan sites outside of Denver - I was given a tour by the owner, as I had some interest when he was trying to sell it.

I ended up walking away because of the dangers and regulatory barriers, as you mentioned. The owner had found old explosives on the surface, toxic materials inside. Everything other than the control room had asbestos. The elevator was broken, so he had put some lights down the stairwell with extension cords... but once at the bottom, you needed flashlights to get around. You ended up dressing up in hazmat suits just to look at the place. The ladders to get to the various levels in the power dome were steep, and navigating that part of the site in the dark, while it was full of old scrap metal and debris... definitely not safe. The control and power domes were dry, but the silos were partially flooded. That was 15 years ago, so I have no idea what has become of the place since that time.

I will say that looking at images and diagrams of these old sites does not really give you a perspective of their scope. The power dome was probably the largest single room I have ever been inside... and it was underground. The control dome had gaps on the edge, so you could look underneath and see these huge springs that held everything up, designed to stabilize it in case of an attack. It may have been a dangerous place, but still really cool to explore. I wouldn't go in without the owners, though - even though most of these can be broken into, if you got hurt down there, that would be serious trouble.

Even if you can purchase these properties cheaply, there is still a lot of work to do, and it is more than most people can really handle. But it can be done if you have the money and time, and people have done some really nice jobs of it in other locations.

Re: For Sale: Deep, Spacious Roswell Property, Once Occupied by a Missile

#17

Post by rev_bird »

chrissnell wrote: post #2

There were no coordinates given in the listing but I think this may be the place: http://goo.gl/maps/mH7d9

It may sound dumb, but I'm absolutely fascinated looking at the desert in Google Maps. It's just so... empty. Mysterious little dirt roads, unexplained (but very square) patches of cleared area, and every once in a while, boom, a missile silo.

Re: For Sale: Deep, Spacious Roswell Property, Once Occupied by a Missile

#19

Post by robszumski »

vonmoltke wrote: post #14
MCRed wrote: post #3

In the last decade I spent a fair bit of time working on the idea of buying and refurbing Missile site. I researched Atlas, Titan and Nike sites and even joined a list of ex-air force missileers. One thing about those guys who spent years in them- they talked a lot about the hazardous chemicals, and when one of these sites would come onto the market often people who had worked there would talk about accidents that ha…

Just to be clear: Nike as a family of nuclear surface-to-air missile systems; the Atlas and Titan were families of ICBM. The Nike system had rail launchers like conventional SAMs designed in the 1950s through the 1970s, but were kept in armored bunkers until needed to keep them from being destroyed in a preliminary strike. The facilities for Nikes and ICBMs are very different, and Nike facilities are usually located…

If you're in SF and haven't been the to Nike site run by the National Parks Service, you should go. It's site SF-88: http://www.nps.gov/goga/nike-missile-site.htm

On certain days they actually open the bunker doors and will raise and lower a missile.

Re: For Sale: Deep, Spacious Roswell Property, Once Occupied by a Missile

#20

Post by ruanmuller »

There's a number of silo conversions that have been done in the past, some with fantastic results: http://www.silohome.com/ http://dornob.com/ultimate-underground-home-converted-nuclea... http://www.gizmag.com/luxury-survival-condos/34861/

Can't help but think that maintenance of such a thing could be very challenging after a while.

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