Red Tape Sale

On June 27, 1947, the Fort Myers News Press carried an item headlined, BIG BUCKINGHAM SALE ON TODAY." The article announced that a "red tape free auction sale" was to be held and that "anyone can buy and take immediate possession of a building with whatever permanent fixtures it may contain."

These included plumbing, heating, electrical and refrigeration systems, toilet fixtures, water pipe, and boilers, as well as thousands of board feet of lumber all of which had to be removed from the site. The structures included barracks, school buildings, warehouses and mess halls, ranging in size from 6 feet by 8 feet to 100 feet by 125 feet.

Today the area where the Buckingham Gunnery School was located is a pastoral setting with charming homes, many of which have attached hangars so that the homeowners can park their privately owned aircraft next to their houses. In that sense Buckingham today retains its connection with aviation.

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