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 nuclear attack.

The parcel at the corner of Hooes and Furnace roads was converted in the early 1970s 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.