There are silos and missile bunkers for sale all over the USA, but California investor Russ Nielsen can assure you that the hardest work is done in reclaiming his Cold War relic.
Earlier this year he and his hired crews unburied the decommissioned “Mike-1” missile control center near Holden, Mo. It comes with 9 acres of land
After years of navigating intense defense and environmental regulations to establish what is now the first and only privately held Minuteman launch control facility in the U.S, Russ put it straight on the market.
The people who worked here held the keys to 10 of the 150 Minuteman missiles once buried in Missouri. There were as many as 1,000 buried in the U.S., though many of them, including all the Missouri missiles, were decommissioned and buried in the 1990s.
Starting bid, if you’re intrigued, is $265,000.
It’s on eBay, of course.
The Kansas City Star was there earlier this year when the excavation team dug down to the blast doors and learned that they would in fact open — a great relief to Nielsen.
Since then, crews have cleared out the rest of the concrete and rock that buried the facility, pumped out the water, plugged the leaks, put in some lighting and a ladder.
Now Nielsen hopes some of you out there will take a look and imagine the possibilities.
Maybe you want to live “somewhat off the grid,” he said, with a little more than 9 acres of land for crops or livestock and a steel-enforced underground sanctuary for whatever “end times” might come.
Or maybe historical preservation — a Cold War museum — makes good sense, he said. Or an RV park. Or a campground.
Bidding is open until Jan. 2.
“A lot of people shake their head when I talk about what I did,” Nielsen said. “It’s not your ordinary thing to do.”