Buckner Building

The Buckner Building is an abandoned building that served as the military barracks (the 'predecessor' of the present Begich Towers) to include mess hall, sleeping quarters, movie theater, bowling alley, small jail, and tunnels connecting the town of Whittier. After 1966 when the military left and gave up the building it went through different owners and was neglected. In 2016 a structural assessment determined that the building cannot be safely and economically rehabilitated for occupancy and with asbestos present throughout the building it cannot be safely torn down either. There is a fence around the building, and it can be seen from outside. The Buckner Building is thus a ghost town within a functioning town.