Photo: Local 10 / WPLG
A refurbished 41-foot Nike Hercules Missile is headed to Everglades National Park.
Students at George T. Baker Aviation School spent almost two months refurbishing the shell. And today it was seen headed towards its final destination in Everglades National Park (in extreme Southwest Dade County) at the Nike Hercules Missile Base HM-69. That site is actually about 5 miles west of that other abandoned Missile Silo Facility we posted about a while back. Both are around the SW 440th Street area and past SW 232nd Avenue.
The Nike Missile was delivered to the school in late August as part of the events surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The students sanded, repaired, and re-painted the piece of Cold War history, which again, will be displayed at the historic Nike Missile Site HM-69, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours are offered of the base from April to December, contact the Nike Site Coordinator via email or call (305) 242-7015 for more information.
A press release from the park says this is the first Nike Missile in 33 years to return to a Florida military base. The base was built in south Florida in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Click here to see the aerial views and location of the base where the missile will be left to stay.
Source: AP
