(9 December 2024)UPDATE: Sign is gone, please take photo of the inside/outside of dome with signature item or item with your name..
This park was originally the launch area for W-83, one of thirteen Nike anti-aircraft missile sites surrounding Washington, DC and Baltimore. The missiles and their launchers were located here; the target acquisition and tracking radars were about a mile to the northeast, off of Springvale Road.
W-83 was active from 1954 to 1962. As far as I can tell, none of the original structures from the launch area remain. However, what appears to be a protective dome for one of the radars from the IFC area has been installed here, with two of its panels removed so you can walk in and through it. The coordinates posted for this cache are, as near as I could place it, the center of the concrete pad on which the dome sits.
The parking area for this park is adjacent to (and possibly shares pavement with -- I couldn't tell) an elementary school, so be careful when school's in session. There may be another way in that I didn't see.
To claim this virtual cache, take photo of the inside/outside (your choice) of the dome with a signature item or item with your geocaching name.
For more information on Nike missile sites, http://www.ed-thelen.org contains more than you will probably ever want to know. Many thanks to Ed Thelen for that site, without which I never would have gone looking for this one.
Cache created by cottingham