Its
hard to believe how long ago it was. But because of 9/11 we are reminded of the last time the nation itself was threatened. Remnants of that time can still be found in our back yards. One such place is in Hillcrest Park just east of Waukesha. This is a park without swing sets or ball fields. Instead, there are some windowless buildings and some strangely shaped structures that have surprisingly little graffiti on them. Elsewhere in the park, we can see only shadows of buildings, footings and sidewalks
and unmaintained parking lots. The only clue to what this was is a small plaque by a rusting flagpole with a brief explanation.
This park was a missile base, part of a greater network of bases that had the mission to launch anti-aircraft missiles at enemy planes on their way to attack Chicago or Milwaukee. These planes were expected to be Soviet bombers
with nuclear weapons.
Everything
I know about this site I've gleaned from
http://ed-thelen.org/index.html a website dedicated to documenting these bases around the country and the world. To the left is a recent aerial picture of the park with labels I've added.
Items of note when you visit:
- Missile launchers themselves were in a area about 1 mile to the south
of the park. I am working on getting permission to access the property. It was
once called Missile Park but has been returned to the federal government and
is not open to the public.
- Radar platforms - there were generally 2, one (called HIPAR) to detect the
enemy at about 100 miles and another to track the enemy as they got closer to guide the missiles. Remains of both structures can be found on the property.
the HIPAR is illustrated below.
- Command and control center. The building still stands (probably because it would be a major undertaking to dismantle). Here were the computer and supporting equipment used to detect the planes and launch the Nike missiles. Notice the massive doors.
- The monument next to the still standing flag pole
The cache itself is a microcache hidden in the park. I like to think of it as a visitor's book that is really hard to find. It is NOT hidden in any of the historic equipment but you may stair at it a long time before you see it.
Park entrance is N43 01.474 W88 11.403
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Lunchtime Cache Cache In - Trash Out! No Dogs Allowed Less than 500 ft. from car to cache |