Fairfax County park officials say they expect to reach a preliminary agreement by the end of the year to build a museum dedicated to the Cold War at the former Lorton Prison complex.
The museum – perhaps appropriately – now appears likely to end up on the Nike Missile site, at Lorton, land that once housed 24 surface-to-air missiles positioned to ward off a Soviet Nuclearattack.
The parcel at the corner of Hooes and Furnace Roads was converted in the early 1970’s into a kitchen and dining hall for female inmates at the prison, which closed in 2001 and was deeded to Fairfax County a year later.
The Park Authority is now in negotiations with Gary Powers, the museum’s founder and director, to work out the details of a lease for the first phase of the project. Powers is the son of Francis Gary Powers, a pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960.
Both sides say they don’t foresee any major obstacles in reaching an agreement.
“I think there is a very good chance it will work out,” said Bob Betsold, an official with the Fairfax County Park Authority who is overseeing the project.
Powers hopes to eventually use the full 26-acre site at a $1 per year lease.
The museum would house scores of relics from the nearly five-decade struggle between the United States and Soviet Union. Powers said museum planners have gathered about $3 million worth of Cold War artifacts, all of which are now held in storage.
An enormous fundraising challenge lies ahead, however. Powers said he hopes to raise $46 million over the next ten years, and $3 million in the next two. Museum fundraisers have so far secured about $300,000 from state, county and private sources, he said.
About six buildings still sit on the Nike Missile site that could be preserved for the museum’s use, Betsold said. Both the Park Authority’s board and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors would need to approve a lease agreement for the museum, he said.
