SRMSC Redevelopment

With the 1972 ABM treaty in effect, the Mickelsen complex was maintained in caretaker status by the U.S. Army for possible reuse in fielding a new anti-missile defense as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative. The treaty limited the continental U.S. to one missile defense installation: SRMSC.

When the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the treaty in June 2002 to allow unrestricted development of SDI, the U.S. Army no longer had a potential use for SRMSC and declared it "surplus property."

With the complex now available for redevelopment, a number of government agencies, community leaders and commercial entities expressed an interest in its future. Cavalier County Job Development Authority (CCJDA) has partnered with the University of North Dakota (UND) and state, local, community and Federal Government leaders to create a plan to redevelop SRMSC.

The documents below reflect activity to date. Additional information will be added as it becomes available.

All documents open in a new window.

July 2025 <$
- 26 July: Hutterites place MSR non-tactical area FOR SALE
  Source: Facebook (2)
  (Click photo for larger version)
March 2025 <$
- 28 March: The N-PEN, a new proposal for reuse of the MSR 😀
  - The Borderland Press, March 28, 2025
    By Bob Simmons, CEO Simmons Multimedia
    Used with permission
    
    Click photo for larger image. (S730)
    
    It's time for ACTION, and I have a plan for the Cold War relic located at Nekoma, N.D. For anyone reading who isn't familiar, Nekoma is home to the former Safeguard Missile Site that was active for a short period of time in the mid 1970s before it was mothballed. The facility is comprised of a number of buildings and what some might consider a true wonder on the prairie, an enormous concrete pyramid towering into the sky with four-foot thick concrete walls. The pyramid will likely be standing eons after our civilization has been wiped out by the next asteroid, gamma ray burst, pandemic, or most likely - A.I. takeover. There I said it...I predict A.I. will do us all in, but that's not the topic of this week's column.
    
    You see, I have an idea to bring in needed dollars to our area beginning tomorrow! Over the years, the Nekoma Missile Site has purportedly been sold, bought back, sold again and most recently was supposedly going to become a bitcoin mining operation. Apparently, it was going to generate so much excess heat from the mega sized computers housed within the pyramid that the investors touted building greenhouses, which they claimed would provide heat to grow vegetables year-round for sale to world markets. AYYYYE YA! As my dad would say sarcastically to me to express disapproval or mockery every time I cooked up some hair-brained scheme to separate him from his money. AYYYYE YA!
    
    Now, I know there are lots of nice folks who are still holding out some hope that the Nekoma Bitcoin Boondoggle is actually going to come to fruition. What I'm presenting to you is a backup plan that I put together recently with the help of a few customers who were enjoying one of my tasty Old Fashions at Sip Happens, open Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 4:30. Here it is - we turn it into a prison. We call it the Nekoma Penitentiary or N-PEN for short. See what I did there, that's called marketing. 'N-Pen' rhymes! When it rhymes, it's good times!
    
    We don't need to send illegals to Venezuela, we send them to Nekoma! We'll take the worst of the worst. Give us your gang bangers, murderers, rapists and the guy in the red pickup that lets his dog shite on my lawn. What could be a better place than the pyramid to house them? Here's the best part, it's almost ready to accept prisoners right now. With my plan we simply hire a guy with a concrete saw to chop off the tippity top of the pyramid and put a big hinge on it.
    
    Then, every afternoon around 4:30, we open the top by remote control, fly over with a helicopter, lower a pig on a cable to the prisoners inside, close the top and fly away. I'm sure we could get a great deal on pigs from the nearby pig farm, and if we wanted to be generous we could also drop in some day-old bread from the bakery. There is plenty of ground water naturally flooding the pyramid's basement, so those incarcerated will have lots to drink. We don't need to provide electricity or restroom facilities, because it's prison. I know some of you bleeding hearts are saying - what about the poor prisoners' rights! Read my lips, they don't have rights – IT IS PRISON. Again, this isn't meant to offend, it's just presented as a backup plan in case the bitcoin mining venture doesn't pan out. See my plan drawn out on an official Sip Happens napkin above. You're welcome.
  - Original article
July 2022
- 25 July: Bitzero to buy old North Dakota missile site for data center
  - AP News July 25, 2022
    By JAMES MacPHERSON
    
    BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A crypto mining company plans to redevelop a northeastern North Dakota anti-ballistic missile site abandoned in the 1970s into data center that may be used for the mining of bitcoin and other digital currencies, Gov. Doug Burgum announced Monday.
    
    Bitzero Blockchain Inc., which is backed by strategic investor and "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary, announced last month that it planned to make North Dakota its headquarters for North American operations. The company said within three years it intends to build 200 megawatts of data centers in the state and is involved in a joint venture to become an assembly and distribution hub for graphene battery technology.
    
    Long considered a white elephant and waste of taxpayers' money, the site at Nekoma grew out of a 1972 treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union.
    
    The $6 billion Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex once housed a radar system within a concrete pyramid, with 7-foot-thick, steel-reinforced walls. It was deactivated in 1976 after only a few months of operation. Nekoma's population reached several hundred, compared with about 30 today, and surrounding towns benefited from an influx of highly paid missile experts and support personnel.
    
    The Cavalier County Job Development Authority has owned the site since 2017. Spokeswoman Carol Goodman said the facility would be sold to the company for $250,000.
    
    Burgum said waste heat captured from the data center's servers will be used to heat an on-site greenhouse, and the company also is planning an interpretive center, representing a total investment estimated by Bitzero at $500 million.
    
    "This important piece of history will be restored and become a beacon for North Dakota innovation to the rest of the world," Burgum said.
    
    Bitzero has signed leases in both Bismarck and Fargo for administrative operations. The Nekoma site will be their primary data center site in North Dakota, Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki said.
    
    Separately, Burgum in January announced construction of a $1.9 billion data center located near the biggest city in the state's oil-production region in northwest North Dakota.
    
    The second-term Republican governor hailed the Atlas Power Data Center to be built by Missoula, Montana-based FX Solutions Inc. as one of the biggest such centers in the world, and one that will help diversify the economy in Williston-area that has suffered oil boom-bust cycles for decades.
    
    Burgum, a wealthy former Microsoft executive, called data centers an "incredible forward- looking industry not dependent on the price of oil."
    
    Uses for data centers include the mining of bitcoin and other digital currencies. Cryptocurrency mining involves supercomputers to solve complex calculations needed to provide security for transactions in the digital currency.
    
    The process requires vast amounts of power and generates much heat. Burgum has said North Dakota is an ideal place for data centers because it has a reliable and affordable power supply, and a climate that lowers cooling costs.
    
    Burgum spokesman Nowatzki said no public money has been earmarked for any of the projects, though they are expected to qualify for tax credits already given to agriculture, energy and other industries.
  - Original article
  - Grand Forks Herald article
  - Press release from ND governor
May 2021
- 19 May: Cavalier County is the recipient of grant dollars
  - Cavalier County Republican newspaper article:
    "The $600,000 portion of the state grant will allow the Cavalier County Job Development Authority (CCJDA) to continue their development plans for the former Stanley R. Mickelsen SAFEGUARD Complex (SRMSC)....."
September 2017
- 14 Sep: Cavalier County JDA purchases Stanley R. Mickelsen site
  - Cavalier County Republican newspaper article
- 06 Sep: KNDK interview with Carol Goodman and Shannon Duerr (Facebook)
  - Carol and Shannon discuss the purchase of the MSR tactical area.
- 01 Sep:
  - Cavalier County JDA (Job Development Authority) purchases MSR tactical area from the Spring Creek Hutterite Colony.
  - Other parts of the MSR complex are also purchased from the Hutterite colony, but the identities of the purchasers are not released.
June 2013
- 30 Jun: Cavalier County still has eye on missile site
  - Grand Forks Herald newspaper article
December 2012
- 24 Dec: JDA loses bid on the Mickelsen Safeguard
  - Cavalier County Republican newspaper article
  - (MSR complex buyer: Spring Creek Hutterite Colony)
- 18 Dec: What next for Cold War complex? County officials hope for a development role after Nekoma site sold
  - Grand Forks Herald newspaper article
- 14 Dec: Unknown bidder offers $530,000 for former Safeguard missile complex in Nekoma, N.D.
  - Grand Forks Herald newspaper article
October 2012
- 17 Oct: Current bid summary (Link no longer operational)
  - Enter mickelsen in the search box to see information on the latest bids for each property.
- 17 Oct: Feds put Nekoma missile site up for sale
  - Grand Forks Herald newspaper article
- 17 Oct: GSA invitation for bids (pdf) (Link no longer operational)
  - See attachments 1 and 2 for environmental concerns.
- 15 Oct: Cavalier County Job Development
  - Newspaper column by Carol Goodman, Executive Directory, CCJDA
  - "No one ever said the project to redevelop the former Stanley R. Mickelsen SAFEGUARD Complex would be an easy road to follow....."
September 2012
- Grand Forks Herald reports "The Cavalier County Job Development Authority still intends to acquire the abandoned Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex at Nekoma, N.D., even though negotiations with the federal government have stalled."
  - Nekoma missile site still on the 'radar'
August 2012
- MSR and the four RSL's offered for sale by U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). Announcements:
  - MSR Complex (Link no longer operational)
    RSL 1 (Link no longer operational)
    RSL 2 (Link no longer operational)
    RSL 3 (Link no longer operational)
    RSL 4 (Link no longer operational)
March 2012
- GSA news briefing
  - Contains Grand Forks Herald article: Fed funds sought to buy would-be UAS test site
November 2010
- JDA town hall meeting reactions
  - Newspaper report on a town hall meeting sponsored by CCJDA that was held in Langdon, ND to discuss redevelopment plans.
April 2010
- SRMSC Strategic Plan
  - Final redevelopment report prepared by the consulting team contracted by CCJDA and UND.
  - An executive summary and the full report are available in the References section on the CCJDA web site. (Link no longer operational)
  - CCJDA web site.