Titan missile complex for sale

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http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2007/10/10/news/news01.txt

Posted: Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007 - 11:31:56 am PDT
By Matthew Weaver
Herald senior staff writer

BATUM - Take two steps into the former Larson Air Force Base Complex 1A Titan ICBM Facility, and it's hard to not learn about history.

So says Bari Hotchkiss, current owner of the site.

"You can't help learning the history of the Cold War, not only just coming on the site but walking through the buildings," he said. "If there had been a nuclear blast, that took out everything above ground, they had two underground antennas that were protected they could raise and still communicate, and say, 'Well, do we fire or not fire?' Just walking through the building, you're going to learn about history."

Located on Batum Road between Moses Lake and Ritzville, Hotchkiss is advertising the facility for sale on Ebay with an asking price of $1.5 million. snip

"Even though we have caretakers and my sons are local, I don't let anybody in here except if I'm showing, because it's just so dangerous," he said. "You can step off the tunnel at the missile silo and splatter 100 feet down at the bottom. And there's all kinds of steel sticking up."

Hotchkiss has visitors sign a liability release before they go down.