Battery Backus sits at fort Screven on Tybee Island and has for more than a century.
Fifteen tons of concrete, granite and steel make up its foundation. Now overgrown with weeds, graffiti is now part of Battery Backus. Up until world war one, it gave the Army strategic command of the Savannah River.
Now, on March 3rd it will be auctioned on Chatham County Courthouse steps to the highest bidder.
The most recent owner couldn't pay the mortgage.
“It should not be on the tax books as a developable piece of property. It needs to be off the tax books - it needs to be in the public interests,” says Ed Cawley, Director at Fort Screven Preservation Organization, Inc.
The battery is a part of the national registry of national historic districts, yet has no federal, state or local ordinance to protect it from future development.
More than just historical significance, Battery Backus also serves as a protective barrier between the ocean and homes just a few feet away.
“There's no way you can put a dwelling on this thing unless you violate height restrictions or you violate off street parking requirements the City of Tybee has,” Cawley says.
Preservation groups want to buy the battery and clean it up -- however the price tag is more than two million dollars.
“A small community like Tybee Island…it's unrealistic to expect anyone to be able to step forth and put that money in out of pocket,” says Cullen Chambers, Executive Director of the Tybee Island Historical Society.
So they are depending on donations -- and hoping potential bidders will have a change of heart.
Both preservation groups plan to attend the march 3rd auction. If no one bids, they hope to negotiate with First National Bank -- who currently controls the property.
