An abandoned fort off the coast of Pembrokshire is set to be transformed into an adventure activity centre.
Welsh businessman Phil Hedley is looking to secure £250,000 in order to purchase the site for which he has great plans.
Stack Rock was built between 1850 and 1852.
It housed 150 soldiers in its heyday, but the Grade II listed building has been out of use for most of the past century after being disarmed in 1929.
Since then, the site has been offered to buyers on multiple occasions, with the last coming in 2018,
But now, the abandoned fort looks set to brought back into use following a chance encounter with Mr Hedley who said: “I was walking the coast path with my dogs in the Christmas holidays when it popped up on Facebook on my phone saying it was on the market.
“I saw it and I thought that’s less than the cost of a semi-detached house in Milford and started thinking about how I could fund it.”
The Milford Haven businessman was told by corporate and private funders that he would be able to secure investment on the condition that it was converted a luxury resort, but that’s not what he had in mind.
“I didn’t drop it and decided to keep going until someone tells me to drop it,” he added. “This has always been a dream.”
Mr Hedley wants to save Stack Rock before it disappears forever and believes an activity centre could be popular with locals and visitors to Pembrokeshire.
Due to its historical importance, Mr Hedley realised it would be a perfect site to receive grant funding, so he set up a not-for-profit business with the aim of pursuing it as a community project.
Mr Hedley hopes to raise the money through crowdfunding and has reassured any potential investors that all money from the crowdfund will go to the CIC and not to him.
“The fort will belong to the company, we can’t then sell the fort, someone would have to take it over,” he said.
“I’m not interested in making a fortune for myself. But every time I go past it, I just think what a waste of such an iconic fabulous building. It needs something to have done to it.”
Mr Hedley said it would be a perfect base to run diving, sailing and other outdoor activities.
While it is hoped the crowdfunding will cover the cost of buying the island, the bill for renovating it is expected to be around £5 million.
