3LDK Silo, Must Sell

Today I spent so time looking at the General Services Administration web site. Since the GSA manages property for the federal government, I went there to learn about real estate disposition by the agency for an article I’m working on.

This counted as a frequently asked question:

‘What is the process involved in acquiring missile silos for private individuals or public agencies?

“GSA disposes of abandoned missile sites for The Air Force pursuant to Public Law 100-180, as amended by Public Law 103-160. During the 1960s and early 1970s, silos were disposed of intact and were available for purchase in their original structural condition. However, the current missile site decommission process is vastly different. Decommissioned silos are now destroyed by implosion. The land, along with any easements, is made available for purchase by qualified adjacent landowners.”

My question is why did the Air Force change its decommission process? Why is it destroying perfectly interesting structures whose adaptive re-use possibilities are just about endless? A former missile silo could become a really cool bachelor pad, a six-story underground bar & grill, a capsule hotel, a compact mink ranch, a rave venue, or a lair from which to plot world domination. Maybe President Nixon was afraid of that final possibility, and ordered the Air Force to quit selling silos to any shifty-eye mad scientists who came along.

Still, silos for private use exist and are on the market.