Fort Heath radar station The Fort Heath radar station was a USAF radar site and US Army Missile Master installation of the joint - use site system ( JUSS ) for North American Air Defense . The Cold War radar station had 2 USAF AN / FPS - 6B height finding radar s , 2 Army AN / FPS - 6A height finders , an FAA ARSR - 1 radar emplaced 1958 - 9 , and an Army nuclear bunker . Arctic Tower s were the pedestals for the FPS antennas and radomes , while the Air Route Surveillance Radar was on a 50 - foot extension temperate tower adjacent to the Federal Aviation Administration building . For Boston Air Defense Sector operations ( e . g . , for radar tracks supporting the 26th ADMS BOMARC surface - to - air missile site at ) , the USAF also used an Air Defense Command operations shelter ( ) for controlling the FPS - 6Bs to process height requests from the sector ' s " Air Defense Control and Coordination System " ( DC - 02 ) . Activated at the fort in 1959 was the headquarters for the 820th Radar Squadron which , instead of being designated a " SAGE " radar squadron as with other units , was renamed an AC & W Sq in 1961 . The 820th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron inactivated in 1962 after the operation — instead of using a " P " ( Permanent ) or " Z " ( SAGE ) designation as with other NORAD / ADC sites — had used the " MM - 1 " designation for the ADDC planned for collocation with the Army ' s 3rd operational Missile Master . Planned Air Defense Direction Center . The Ft Heath " Joint Manual Direction Center " was planned by January 24 , 1957 , and the site plan was approved on October 31 , 1957 . NORAD / CONAD used the " MM - 1 " designation for the JMDC in the June 1958 historical summary . The summary estimated the AADCP and USAF ADDC would be operational in August 1960 with " Air Force operating consoles " in the Army bunker after the estimated March 1960 installation of the ARSR - 1 . A General Electric AN / GPA - 37 Radar Course Directing Group GPA - 37 was to be completed by April 1960 to allow manual USAF ADDC ground - controlled intercept operations until SAGE DC - 02 was operational for the Boston Air Defense Sector ( forecast August 1960 ) . The modification to the ARSR - 1A configuration ( Amplitron , " antenna gear box modification " , etc . ) was to be complete by November 1960 . Radar station construction had begun by September 22 , 1959 , and by the end of 1959 , Ft Heath was designated to be a Category 1a NORAD Control Center with the AN / GPA - 37 to have the data processing computer for the SAGE TDDL to / from equipped interceptors . However , since Ft Heath ADDC operation would have only been used for a few months until SAGE DC - 02 had ground - controlled interception capability , the AN / GPA - 37 installation was never completed . For the SAGE / Missile Master test program , NORAD requested an abbreviated AN / FSG - 1 " be made available … in the Boston area by 1 Ju . l . y 1959 " and during Ft Heath bunker construction , 5 of 7 Glenn L . Martin pallets of FSG - 1 equipment were assembled at the nearby Fort Banks for testing with the Experimental SAGE Subsector ( XD - 1 prototype AN / FSQ - 7 at Lexington , Massachusetts ) for the Second Phase NORAD SAGE / Missile Master test ( September 1959 ) to assess the Automatic Targeting and Battery Evaluaiton algorithm . Missile Master nuclear bunker . The Fort Heath Direction Center ( B - 21DC ) was the Army Air Defense Command Post for the Boston Defense Area housed in the partially underground nuclear bunker and manned by the Air Defense Brigade headquartered at Fort Banks . To network the local " Missile Master organic radars " and several remote Nike batteries ' radars , the Direction Center ( DC ) became operational 1960 at the site formerly used by the MIT research building . The DC included a Martin AN / FSG - 1 Antiaircraft Defense System with consoles and overhead displays of the tactical display and tracking subsystems within an Antiaircraft Operations Center ( " Blue Room " ) recessed in a pit with a stage . Instead of an underground decontamination water supply beneath the AAOC as with the nominal bunker plan , the Army Corps of Engineers ( New England District ) had exterior emergency water tanks built in addition to a 210 , 000 gallon freshwater tank . The typical FSG - 1 crew was 22 soldiers and 5 company grade officers , and the bunker had an office for the Army Air Defense Commander . Army maintenance was by the January 4 , 1960 - December 1964 Army Signal Missile Master Support Detachment with 3 officers , 2 WOs , and 12 enlisted men . In 1962 the Boston Defense Area merged with the Hartford & Providence areas to become the New England Defense Area , and in early 1965 the vacuum tube AN / FSG - 1 was replaced with a solid - state Martin AN / GSG - 5 BIRDIE ( than a Hughes AN / TSQ - 51 by July 1968 ) . The " control site " was demolished in 1969 ( the bunker remained in 1971 ) , and after a Rhode Island AN / TSQ - 51 had opened by July 1 , 1970 , Project Concise closed the remaining Nike batteries in 1974 . The site of the former radar station now includes a small park and a complex of large apartment buildings .