Nekoma
With our first studio project of the semester wrapping up a couple weeks ago, our final project is only just beginning. This past Monday my studio section had the opportunity to travel all the way out to Nekoma, North Dakota, a long 3 hour drive away, to see the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex (SRMSC). While we were there, we got a personal tour by one of the people working on the redevelopment of the project, a miniature history lesson, and how the complex played into the timeline of the Cold War.
A view of the pyramid from the missile silo field
The SRMSC was constructed in the early 1970s and achieved full operation in late 1975. The facility was intended to be the first of many complexes built throughout the nation to act as a defense for incoming missiles from other parts of the world. Acting as the giant “eye,” the massive pyramid at the center of the site housed state-of-the-art radar technology that could detect incoming missiles. When such missiles were inbound, it would order the launch of two types of missiles to target the incoming projectile and destroy it midair. The two counter attack rockets were known as the Spartans and the Sprints, the Spartans being the larger of the two and the one responsible for the first strike. After the construction of the complex was complete, the House of Representatives voted to decommission the facility and it was deactivated in early 1976, less than a full year after it first began operating.
An interior view of one of the massive radar dishes on the pyramid
On our visit there, our tour guide told us all about the aftermath of the decommission and how, in an effort to clean it up, the government came in and tore the place apart to salvage any materials possible. From there she brought us over to the missile silos to show us where the projectiles were stored. We then drove over to the pyramid and got to take a look inside where the massive radar configurations used to be. The state of the facility was incredibly run down and falling apart with rust in every direction and damaged espartos tiles across every floor surface. It was incredible to see, however, the empty shell that once held one of the most high-tech sanctions of the US Military.
The approach to the subterranean on site power plant with the exhaust tower vents overhead
After roaming the eerie halls of the upper floors under the pyramid, we exited the structure and made our way down to the subterranean powerplant. As we entered the massive corridor that led to the heart of the structure, the water damage that once plagued the facility became a lot more prevalent. The puddles on the ground were much more frequent the lower we went. When we reached the corridor that housed the engines that were removed after the decommission, we could see the massive rooms that held the monstrous machines that powered this underground city. Finally, as we looked around one last time, we concluded the tour with a few questions and exited the complex.
A view down an eerie corridor in the flooded power plant
Looking to the future, the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex is hoping to keep its memory alive with a full restoration of the facility in order to attract corporations to use the facility as a data center. Our guide explained many of the moves the owners are making to ensure the history is saved while also not wasting all of the valuable space within. However, no matter what the site ends up becoming, the complex will forever be a hidden jewel of North Dakota, acting as a staple of American history.