After countless man-hours of cleaning and refurbishment, a former government Atlas F launch site is prepared to be offered for purchase to the public, Duckncover LLC announced today. Constructed in 1960, the underground complex that reaches almost 200 feet – below the surface was built to withstand 500 mile-per-hour winds at a cost of $110,000,000 in today’s dollars.
Beginning in the late 1950s, the U.S. Government constructed twelve of these impenetrable underground silos in Central Kansas during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. As technology developed and the country’s defense strategy shifted to submarine-based platforms, some of the deactivated underground silos were sold to the public. In 1979, President Carter and Soviet Premier Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (SALT II), which restricted the nuclear arms arsenals of both countries, prohibited silo sales to the public, and mandated that many remaining silos would be imploded and the cavernous, 200-feet deep holes be filled in. Very few silo locations escaped complete or partial destruction. The North Star Silo is the most complete and developable facility of its kind to ever be offered for sale.
Captain Paul Novitzke, founder of Duckncover LLC, has spent much of his life at sea, piloting mega yachts for the ultra-rich. In a strange way, purchasing and renovating an underground complex felt like a familiar project.
“Overhauling one of these subterranean facilities is a lot like overhauling a mega yacht,” Novitzke explained. “Both are large-scale projects that contain multiple, independent systems that allow them to operate under harsh conditions.”
With the skyrocketing number of recent catastrophic natural events coupled with the arrival of the Coronavirus, the defunct launch site could be repurposed as the ultimate, private safe house. The possibilities to develop this unique property and underground space are endless. With 18 acres of land area to work with, there is plenty of room to build a house above the underground complex and utilize it as an expansive secure basement living area. The empty launch silo area has enough room to construct a 17-story hardened condominium or apartment complex with 2,000sq feet per floor.
The Launch Control area space, approximately 2,500 square feet, on two separate levels is prepped and ready for custom finishes as a safe house, ultra-private meeting space, or climate-controlled storage area. Freshwater, electric power, sewage systems, and high-speed fiber internet access are already in place. The property offers plenty of open space and ideal weather conditions for solar power and or wind power generation systems. A solar-powered security gate has been installed offering secure access control.
More details about the North Star Silo project can be found online. To preserve the silo’s future security, interested buyers must sign a confidentiality agreement before the exact location is offered and any showings are scheduled.
