A Cold War-era bunker data center is up for sale in Nebraska.
Real estate firm Investors Realty Inc. is listing 1650 HWY 51 in Lyons as available for $7.95 million.
Built around 1966, the 54,000 sq ft (5,017 sq m) site is described as a former AT&T underground communications center.
Located in Burt County, Lyons is around 70 miles north of Omaha.
“This building was built during the Cold War to support military operations,” the listing notes. “The building was designed to be self-sustaining with food, water, and fuel to operate over an extended period of time without outside assistance.”
The site includes a 750kW backup turbine generator and a 329-foot tall communications tower with OHF radio service. There is a 10,000lb hoist for lowering equipment into the service area.
The building has been decommissioned, and not all building systems are functional.
The site is described as having a “well-maintained interior” with the majority of equipment removed and ready for future use.
The walls are up to two feet thick; while the original building included an EMP shield and bomb-resistant hardware, it is unknown if the systems are still currently functional.
It includes air shafts for the intake and exhaust of building air; fresh air is continually mixed with the conditioned air, and all incoming air is double-filtered. There is also a decontamination shower designed to remove radioactive dust from personnel in the wake of a nuclear blast.
History sites describe the Lyon site as a former Long-Lines AT&T communications facility; the Nebraska L-4 site was important due to its proximity to Strategic Air Command Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base.
AT&T phased out and eventually sold the tower facility at Lyons to American Tower.
American Tower had brochures for the site's tower from around 2002 to around 2006, according to the WayBackMachine. It’s unclear whether the company ever used the site as a data center, or if it is the company selling the site today.
