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Minuteman Missile National Historic Site To Reopen Visitor Center

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Published Date

April 29, 2016

It's not a barber's chair...rather, it's where Air Force missileers sat in launch silos/David and Kay Scott

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in western South Dakota will reopen its visitor center Saturday after being closed during the month of April. The visitor center initially opened in November 2014, but with temporary exhibits.

The center closed April 1 to give NPS staff time to install permanent exhibits. Tickets for a 30-minute ranger-guided tour of the launch control facility have been obtained at the National Grasslands Visitor Center in the town of Wall, South Dakota, during April. Tickets will again be available at the site's visitor center after its opening.

Superintendent Eric Leonard was obviously quite proud of the new exhibits during our preview tour of the visitor center. The new facility is a big improvement compared to the trailer that served as the visitor center during our previous visit in 2011. New exhibits include several video presentations that describe the buildup of the arms race, the decommissioning and destruction of the missile sites after the nuclear agreement with Russia, and interviews with some of the missileers who were stationed here. Other exhibits describe the underground launch control facility.

Minuteman Missile NHS preserves and interprets the only complete launch control unit and missile silo remaining at this facility that once numbered 15 launch control units and 150 missile silos. During the peak summer season the historic site typically offers a dozen tours daily, each limited to six individuals. Tours are now offered as first-come, first-served, but later this year will convert to a reservation basis when a fee will be charged.

According to Superintendent Leonard, the site welcomed just over 100,000 visitors in 2015, a significant increase over the prior year.

Superintendent Eric Leonard provides some of the interpretation at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site/David and Kay Scott

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Comments

Submitted by Kellie Etherson on May 3, 2016 - 2:39pm.

Wonderful news!  I, too, last visited in 2011 when the Visitor's Center was a trailer.  Congratulations on your new center and the new exhibits!  Can't wait to revisit!

 


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