Nike Missile Base C-84
The Army designated Chicago as Priority No 3 for Nike Ajax installations, following Washington, D.C., and New York.71 Prior to the construction of Nike bases to defend the Chicago area, antiaircraft artillery battalions, armed with 120mm and 90mm guns, were already present in and around Chicago. In April 1954, the Army Corps of Engineers advertised construction contracts for the first Nike bases in the Chicago area: C-93 (near Skokie), C-45 (Gary, Indiana), and C-51 (Alsip). Nike Missile Bases C-03 (Belmont Harbor), C-41 (Jackson Park), C-40 (Burnham Park), C-61 (Lemont), C-44 (Wolf Lake), C-80 (Arlington Heights), C-72 (Addison), C-49 (Homewood), C-92 and C 94 (Libertyville), and C-98 (Ft. Sheridan) were deployed by 1957.72
In the Chicago area, the Army utilized park land for Nike installations as much as possible. Under lease arrangements, Nike installations were situated in Chicago’s Jackson Park, Burnham Park, Lincoln Park, Belmont Harbor, and Montrose Harbor. In all, the Chicago Park District leased 88.5 acres of lake front land to the Army at the rate of $1.00 per year per site. Some local citizens criticized the loss of public recreation land and lack of compensation. On March 6, 1956, Major General Carter, chief of the 5th Regional Antiaircraft Command at Fort Sheridan, told the Chicago Daily News
We don’t want to take any park land, but we have no alterantive … a circular defense of the city is best from a military point of view. In lake front cities like Chicago, the defense must cut across the “diameter” of the circle, the lake shore. We will make every adjustment possible without throwing defense out the window.
The Army acquired the land for Nike Missile Base C-84, which was approximately 25 miles northwest of Chicago near the town of Barrington, through a combination of purchase, declaration of taking, and condemnation. Dur ing 1956 and 1957, the Army acquired 26.87 fee acres, 54.67 easement acres, and two no-area permits (pole line and sanitary sewer line in public road right-of-way) for use as Nike Missile Base C-84. The Launch Area, which was just east of Quentin Road, consisted of 15.80 fee acres. The Battery Control Area, which was to the east just north of Lake Cook Road, contained 11.07 fee acres. Of the 54.67 easement acres, 0.19 acres were comprised of an access road and utility easement for the launcher and housing area, and the remainder of the 54.59 easement acres were line-of-sight and safety easements.73
The cost for Nike Missile Base C-84 was $1,214,502.97. By June 1962, the Army had constructed 12 Nike installations for the Chicago Defense Area, which cost $13,774,674.11 ($55,071.89 over budget).74 In all, the Army built 23 Nike installations in the Chicago-Gary (IN) Defense Area, although they were not all in operation simultaneously.
Two Army battalions and the National Guard manned Base C-84. In 1956-1957, the 13th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion – which earlier had been part of the Chicago defense system of 90mm and 120mm antiaircraft guns – was headquartered at Nike Missile Base C54 (Orland Park), and served as a Nike-Ajax battalion. On July 16, 1956, the battalion designation was changed to 13th Antiaircraft Artillery Missile Battalion, Nike-Ajax. Also that month, D Battery transferred from Base C-71 (La Grange to Base C-84. Battery A was lo cated at Nike Missile Base C-70 (Naperville); Battery C was at Base C-51.75
The 13th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion inactivated September 1, 1958. At that time, the 2nd Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery, activated with headquarters at Nike Missile Base C-54. Through 1959, Nike Missile Base C-84 served as this battalion’s Battery D. Battery A was located at Nike Missile Base C-49 (Homewood); Battery C was at Nike Missile Base C46 (Munster, Indiana). By 1961, a National Guard unit manned Nike Ajax Missile Base C-84.76 By this time, Nike Hercules was the more advanced version of the missile, and several Nike Ajax installations in the Chicago defense system were converted to accommodate the larger and more powerful Hercules missile. However, Base C-84 was not converted. After the 2nd Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery became a Nike Hercules battalion, Battery D moved from Base C-84 to Base C-61 (Lemont).
Source for this information:
LAST LINE OF DEFENSE, NIKE MISSILE SITES IN ILLINOIS