Light Tower Off Virginia Beach Up For Auction

Delmarva Public Media | By Don Rush

Published July 11, 2016 at 11:45 AM EDT

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - A 120-foot-tall light tower located 14 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach is up for sale.

The Virginian-Pilot reports the Chesapeake Light Tower hit the auction block last month. Built in 1965, it's one of six towers - called "Texas Towers" - along the East Coast.

Kathryn Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Energy, which assumed oversight of the tower from the Coast Guard in 2012, says the goal was to create an offshore research facility. But those plans didn't work out in 2014 when the department realized that it would cost too much to upgrade the tower as a meteorological tool.

The tower has seven rooms. There are also generators, fuel tanks, solar panels and a power distribution room to keep the tower's utilities running.

The auction ends July 20.

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Don Rush

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.

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