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Most recent from Jeral Sexton May 15, 2004

Hi Ed:

Just wanted to past this along to you for your information and for you to do as you see fit. This is another Public Meeting pertaining to the Army's destruction efforts of Site Summit, Alaska Nike Hercules Missile Base and an opportunity for the public to voice their opinions to preserve it.

Thanks,

Jeral Sexton

http://home.mchsi.com/~jerals Site Summit, Alaska - Nike Hercules ADA
Here's the announcement for the upcoming meeting.

(See attached file: NikePrintAdDraft.0504.doc) 

NIKE SITE SUMMIT:
WHAT IS ITS FUTURE?

Officials at Fort Richardson have announced plans
to demolish the Facilities at Nike Site Summit.

Should they be allowed to proceed?

Anchorage Historic Properties, Inc., the city's
leading historic preservation agency, invites you
to share your comments, opinions, personal stories
and photographs at the

    PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE

Wed May 26th, 4-7 PM
Pioneer School House, xxx e. 3rd Avenue
(corner 3rd & Eagle)
 
For more information call 274-3600 or visit
www.AnchorageHistoric.org
end of May 15, 2004

Forwarded through many hands


-----Original Message-----
From: CPEO Moderator [ mailto:cpeo@cpeo.org ]
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 9:24 AM
To: cpeo-military@igc.topica.com
Subject: [CPEO-MEF] Historic preservation advocates, Army at odds over missile site


Alaska
ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS
Summit squabble
Historic preservation advocates, Army at odds over missile site
By Doug O'Harra
(Published: September 7, 2003)

On a mountain ridge with an airliner's view of a toy-city Anchorage and surrounding country, the two-story command post and barracks for a historic anti-aircraft missile installation looked like it had been under savage attack.

Shotgun blasts from vandals had punched holes in plywood bolted over windows. A chunk of its outside wall had been peeled off, exposing an interior crawl space. Winter storms had chewed up a roof repair, with the interior ceiling collapsing into a soggy pile on the common room floor.

"That roof repair was supposed to help dry out the interior," Russell Sackett, a cultural and historic resources specialist at Fort Richardson, said as he peered into the building Friday morning. "But it's failed now. I think it bought us two years."

One of three Nike bases rimming Anchorage and its military posts during the Cold War, Site Summit operated for 20 years above Arctic Valley Road with an around-the-clock crew and a mission to blast Soviet bombers from the sky with nuclear-tipped Hercules missiles. One old launch area still contains the rusting tracks for moving the rockets into place, standing just above the holiday star still lit each winter by the Army.

Like other Anchorage Nike bases at Goose Bay and what is now Kincaid Park, Site Summit was shut down in 1979, its missiles made obsolete by deadlier weapons, its buildings abandoned to the wind.

But the site was never forgotten. Microwave communication towers now use its electric grid, and its outer slopes and access road fall within the danger zone of an Army practice range.

It's also been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1996 and touted as a potential park or tourist destination by numerous studies.

Now the Army wants to tear down the structures after recording their layout and history. Officials say the asbestos-laden buildings, leaky bunkers and creaky radar towers present a danger to people who illegally explore and vandalize the site.

But historic preservation advocates have countered that the Army is moving too fast.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/3865160p-3888543c.html


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