KEY WEST, FL – Monroe County is repairing and replacing the delaminated and partially collapsed ceilings in the historic ammunition bunker at West Martello Tower. The repairs are expected to take several months to complete and will match the original finishes.

Today, the ammunition bunkers sit beside a contemporary meeting room that was constructed in the 1970s. The large wood doors of the bunkers are still intact and in good condition.

The date of this photo is unknown, but probably 1940s. The photo shows the twin batteries and ammo bunker as they stood within the West Martello.

Originally, the West Martello ammunition bunkers were a part of the reinforced concrete coastal gun Battery Inman. The entire battery was constructed within the walls of the Civil War-era West Martello fort in 1866. The West Martello was never officially completed, as the brick fortification became obsolete due to the advent of rifled artillery in the late 1860s.

“This is an important project to preserve the fabric of our unique history in the Florida Keys,” said Cary Knight, Director of Monroe County Project Management. “The bunkers were designed to take the impact of canon and there is a tremendous amount of history within those walls.”

Monroe County Library file photos of the fort can be found at www.flikr.com/keyslibraries. To read the Damage Assessment Report, visit www.monroecounty-fl.gov/historicproperties, or for other Monroe County projects visit www.monroecounty-fl.gov/projectmanagement.

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